CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Thousands of people prayed inside and outside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Sunday morning during the first service since nine people were slain here on Wednesday, allegedly by a white supremacist.
The airy church was filled beyond capacity, and the overflow crowd was easily big enough to shut down the street outside, where people clapped and sang along to music blasted on speakers. Inside, people dabbed their eyes with tissues or let tears stream down their cheeks. They knelt to pray on the red carpet in front of their wooden pews, they shouted "Amen," and they laughed at the jokes of the Rev. Norvel Goff, who presided over the service.
Goff was leading the church because its senior pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, was one of the victims.
He was by turns reflective and joyous during a service that often felt like a celebration of life rather than a somber remembrance.
"There's a time and a place for everything," Goff said. "Now it's the time for us to focus on the families."
Overflow crowd outside Emanuel AME Church, listening to the music coming from inside. #CharlestonShooting pic.twitter.com/UIt2JcIyD1— Colin Daileda (@ColinDaileda) June 21, 2015
Goff thanked the community for sticking together and lauded the numerous vigils held all over downtown Charleston since the murders.
Clapping along outside Emanuel AME Church at the first service since the #CharlestonShooting https://t.co/7ZyxnEVpGi— Colin Daileda (@ColinDaileda) June 21, 2015
He also thanked South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and the "nation's mayor," Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, both of whom were in attendance along with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
"The only way evil can triumph is for good folk to sit down and do nothing," Goff said. "But if we are people of faith, we will join hands and begin to work together."
At 10 a.m. local time, church bells rang simultaneously around Charleston to honor the victims.
"It feels like I'm a part of history, a tragic history," Anthony Capers, who lives in Charleston, told Mashable. "I'm sad this has happened, but I'm so happy that everyone has come together. This transcends race."
Flowers, teddy bears, newspapers and balloons outside Emanuel AME Church as it reopens after the #CharlestonShooting pic.twitter.com/4WGHozKhS7— Colin Daileda (@ColinDaileda) June 21, 2015
Terry Livings, from Swansea, South Carolina, paused outside the church after the service ended. In front of her were piles of flower bouquets, dozens of handwritten notes, balloons, candles, newspapers and more, all to honor the victims. She'd come to Charleston with family for Father's Day, and said she felt she couldn't miss the service.
"So many emotions are going through me right now," Livings said. "I wish it could be like this every day, all day -- without all the sadness."