In Light of the Carolina Shootings
The following is a letter from Rev. Dr. Zina Jacque (STH ’97, ’05), in response to the recent shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Zina Jacque was the speaker at Boston University School of Theology’s 2015 graduation ceremony.
My Brothers and Sisters,
How I long to be in your presence this moment. How I long to stand amid the differences we represent: black, white, Asian, young old, gay, straight, left leaning, right leaning, those who have known plenty for a life time, those who have not, single, remarried, divorced, male, female, raised Muslim or Catholic, Greek Orthodox or Swedish Covenant, raised without an active faith or raised Baptist or Methodist, Episcopal or Presbyterian, raised as an American in a nation that promises out of many one. How I long to be with you because I need you. I need you to remember the hope of our nation; especially this week when race and difference seem to loom over our heads as that which divides and might motivate a killing hate.
I cannot be with you Sunday but I want to invite you to join me in prayer both now and on Sunday. I want us to remember to pray for this misguided young man in South Carolina who, it is believed, entered a historical black church, sat for over an hour during a Bible study and yet could be so filled with hate that he stole nine lives and shattered many more. I want us to pray not only for grace for his family but, transformative grace for a culture that esteems violence in fiction and reality. I want us to pray with the words of Jesus from John 17. Beloved, read that chapter tonight. In it Jesus prays specifically, that you and I, you and I who follow him, are not to be taken out of the world but, that we, being protected by God, might be so unified under God’s name the world would hear our testimony in the midst of difficulty and find blessing.
In this moment, we who are called by God’s name are called deeply and fervently to stand to together and proclaim peace, proclaim, hope, proclaim justice and proclaim love. These are not mutually exclusive claims; they are the warp and weft of the fabric of God.
May we know the power and the glory of the differences we bear in our bodies, in our souls, in our beliefs in our ways of life and may they be subsumed under the power of the Cross so that as Jesus prays in John 17 we might be one. And today . . .
May we be one as we pray for our brothers and sisters in South Caroline.
May we be one as we pray for a nation not filled with hatred but with peace.
May we be one as we pray for the strength of God’s sons and daughters to stand together.
May we be one as we dry one another’s tears.
May we be one as strive for righteousness among all people.
May we be one in unity, in peace, in hope, in justice, in power and in love.
Being a follower of Christ has never been easy. Living into the principles of Christianity in this moment when anger and pain are so near the surface is a challenge. But let us be on the side of healing, let us be on the side of change. Let us be on the side of our Savior as we go forward with the Spirit in Christ’s name. Know that I am praying with you, that I love you and who God has made us to be with and through our differences. I will be with you in Spirit on Sunday.
— Zina Jacque
Lead Pastor of Community Church of Barrington, Illinois