Fort Valley's Saint Peter AME Church - Prayer, Hope and Healing

By Aadrian Jackson

(Fort Valley, Ga.) - Fort Valley’s Saint Peter AME Church recently held a memorial event on June 25 that commemorated the tragic loss of nine African-Americans in the Charleston, S.C. shooting.

Accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof is being held on capital murder charges in the June 17 attack at Emanuel AME Church. Roof, 21, of Columbia, S.C., is white and has reportedly confessed to the racially motivated shooting.

The Fort Valley, Ga. event was hosted by Bishop Preston Warren Williams II of the Sixth Episcopal District, Presiding Elder Harvey B. Williamson of the Macon South District and Pastor Robert J. Angrish, Sr.

Lucas Moore

 “This was an incident that was done unfortunately,” said Lucas Moore, a Fort Valley resident. 

“I think that the black community needs to learn from this. Not use it as an excuse to retaliate or to be hateful, They shared several sentiments about the victims from the shooting," Moore said.

“May the souls of the faithful pardon. May the souls of the deceased individuals in the Charleston shooting rest in peace,” said Bishop Williams “Seems like things doesn’t change. Things just become old."

Williamson also shared a few words about the tragedy.

“I read revelations every day. It keeps me motivated,” Williamson said.  It shows me how to love and show love and that is not what the world is showing right now. We have to bring love back into society in order to bring peace.”

“The devil is everywhere,” said Pastor Angrish. “We have crime all over. People are possessed. Questions come from even law enforcement saying why crime is such on the horizon. The only answer we can give from what I’ve been taught and studied is sin and how it erupts in our world. It’s not just a black thing, a white thing or a Muslim thing. It’s us as a whole.”

Moore summed up his thoughts about the Charleston shooting.

“[ We need] to learn from this and move forward and not dwell on the past,” Moore stated. “That is a problem with the black community now. We tend to dwell on the past and wait for incidents such as this to come together. We should be working to better our communities and help out those who have gone through situations like the Charleston shooting. These incidents are not breaking us apart but pulling us together because we are opening our eyes and realizing that we need to learn from these events and become a better community.”


Those killed include:  

• Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd (54) – Bible study member and manager for the Charleston County Public Library system; sister of Malcolm Graham

• Susie Jackson (87) – a Bible study and church choir member

• Ethel Lee Lance (70) – the church sexton

• Depayne Middleton-Doctor (49) – a pastor who was also employed as a school administrator and admissions coordinator at Southern Wesleyan University

• Clementa C. Pinckney (41) – the church pastor and a South Carolina state senator

• Tywanza Sanders (26) – a Bible study member; nephew of Susie Jackson

• Daniel Simmons (74) – a pastor who also served at Greater Zion AME Church inAwendaw

• Sharonda Coleman-Singleton (45) – a pastor; also a speech therapist and track coach atGoose Creek High School

• Myra Thompson (59) – a Bible study teacher

Bishop Preston Warren Williams II

Pastor Robert J. Angrish Sr.

Elder Harvey B. Williamson

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