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Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see was Grace that taught my heart to fear And Grace, my fears relieved How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed through many dangers, toils and snares
We have already come
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far
And Grace will lead us home
And Grace will lead us home
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see was blind, but now I see.
Take a listen:
The history of this congregation reflects the development of religious institutions for African Americans in Charleston. Its roots stem from a religious group of both enslaved and free African Americans organized in 1791. In 1816, Black members of Charleston's Methodist Episcopal church withdrew over disputed burial ground, and under the leadership of Morris Brown, formed a separate congregation. The church's 1400 members soon thereafter established themselves as an African Methodist Episcopal church, a denomination formally established in 1816 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two years later, Brown and other ministers of the church were jailed for violating state and local laws which prohibited religious gatherings of enslaved people and free blacks independent of white supervision.
On the evening of June 17, 2015, a man opened fire on a Bible study group inside the church. The shooting left six women and three men dead: Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Cynthia Hurd, Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson, Ethel Lance, Rev. Daniel Simmons, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor and Susie Jackson. All of the victims killed during this racist attack were African American. President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, church pastor and South Carolina state senator. The shooting prompted the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State grounds.
