Prayer vigils were held in churches across the country Thursday evening to honor the nine people killed in a mass shooting at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Hundreds of people gathered to remember the victims at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where members are still coming to grips with the Wednesday night shooting attack.
Clementa Pinckney, 41, and the pastor of Emanuel, was among the victims. He was also a South Carolina state senator.
Shooting victims
The other victims were: librarian Cynthia Hurd, 54; high-school track coach Reverend Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; barber Tywanza Sanders, 26; church sexton Ethel Lance, 70; church member Susie Jackson, 87; Reverend DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; vicar's wife Myra Thompson, 59; and Reverend Daniel Simmons, 74.
Several churches in the Charleston area held similar vigils and houses of worship around the country followed suit.
AME Philadelphia
In Philadelphia, members of the city's Mother African African Methodist Episcopal church were joined by Jews and Muslims for an interfaith vigil for the victims.
Reverend Dr. Janet J. Sturdivant was among those in attendance. "Now this evil has now even come into the house of God, where people should feel safe, where they come for safety, where they come for peace, where they come when they're in trouble. They come to the house of God," she said.
