I think we need to be honest with ourselves and pray for self-revelation and self-introspection so we can find out if there's anything within us that could contribute to bias – Rev. Nurjahan B. Govan
SALT LAKE CITY — "Torn up."
That's how Kevin Nelson said he felt after Dylann Roof, 21, shot and killed nine members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
"I was just kind of speechless," said Nelson, a member of the Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City. "I was just curious: What could go through someone's mind where things would be so bad that they would do something like that?"
To remember the victims of the June 17 shooting, Trinity will host a 30-minute vigil at 9 p.m. Friday, followed by an hourlong discussion.
Though the shootings happened more than 2,000 miles away, community members showed support by giving gifts to the church, the Rev. Nurjahan B. Govan said.
Gifts ranged from flowers to a hand-drawn picture of Jesus Christ embracing a black boy as the boy clutches the front of Jesus' robes.
"We feel very much a part of the Charleston, South Carolina, family," the Rev. Govan said. "We are related because it is a connected body, so we feel very much a part of their loss and what they suffered."
The Rev. Govan said the vigil offers a chance for everyone in the community to form a discussion about moving forward after the shootings in "the context of spirit of sister and brotherly love.”
Lee Johnson, organizer of the vigil, said he hopes to discuss how men in particular can stop violent hate crimes.
"I want to talk about why are these things happening," Johnson said. "What makes us do this? Why are we so angry?"
Moving forward after the Charleston shootings also includes realizing subtleties of racism in today’s world, the Rev. Govan said.
"I think we need to be honest with ourselves and pray for self-revelation and self-introspection so we can find out if there's anything within us that could contribute to bias," she said.
For Nelson, the chance to fellowship those at the vigil will ease the emotional turmoil after the shootings.
“My heart just goes out to the families and their loved ones involved with that,” he said.
Email: klarsen@deseretnews.com