Reverend At Charleston AME Church's Sister Church In Denver: 'We're Just As Vulnerable'
DENVER (CBS4) - The Shorter Community AME Church in Denver is grieving following the shooting massacre that left nine dead at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday. Ties between the churches stretch across the country.
CBS4 reached out to Rev. Timothy Tyler to find out how he and his community were feeling after the massacre. It's now clear just how close to home the shooting hits for the Denver congregation 1,700 miles away.
"It is some of our family has died, been killed, and we're feeling the effects of it here in Denver, at Shorter," Tyler told CBS4.
The Shorter Community AME Church in Denver is a sister church to Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. Their pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, is one of the nine killed. He and Tyler had been friends.
"We were talking about him possibly coming here to preach," Tyler said.
Authorities say the motivation for suspect Dylann Storm Roof was hate. According to a report by the FBI, in 2013 victims reported about 5,900 hate crimes. Of those, nearly half were racially-based.
"We're just as vulnerable as Mother Emanuel AME Church was in Charleston, and it's been traumatic, it's been hard," Tyler said.
Now church leaders question how to rebuild a community that Tyler fears may feel broken.
"We're going to have to talk about the evilness of a culture where people praying in a Bible study can be killed senselessly," Tyler said. "But then we're going to have to have practical talks too."
Tyler said there will no question be challenging conversations, but even more difficult is the thoughts of those dealing with even greater heartbreak.
"He was a young man, 41 years old, so his loss for our denomination, for that church, and his loss to me personally is just very devastating.
"I need God to talk to me … because the people come to you angry and worried and they want you to help them. And right now I don't feel very helpful."
The Shorter Community AME Church will be having a prayer service Thursday night to remember the nine victims. The church is located on 3100 Richard Allen Court. The prayer is from 9 p.m. to midnight. They will also discuss ways to make the church safer. It's one of the largest AME churches in Colorado with hundreds of members.
"We're going to come and take that first step forward at 9 p.m. today, and were asking people of good will, people of conscience, people of all parts of … our state, actually, to join us," Brother Jeff Fard said.
"In this situation, after we've lost our faith, after we've lost our courage, after we've lost our loved ones, after we've lost our will to keep going; the Lord always shows up at the right time and he restores for us the things that we need," Tyler said.
