Join us over the next few months as we highlight different members of our staff. The Minneapolis Area Synod staff is comprised of 17 people who live in the city, suburbs, and rural areas. We are fairly racially and age diverse for a Lutheran office. We hope you get to know us better through these fun interviews! This week's featured staff member is Peg Ihinger, assistant to candidacy, peer groups, and office administration.

On June 17, 2015, Clementa C. Pinckney , Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd , Susie Jackson , Ethel Lee Lance , DePayne Middleton-Doctor , Tywanza Sanders , Daniel Lee Simmons , Sharonda Coleman-Singleton , and Myra Thompson were murdered by a self-professed white supremacist while they were gathered for Bible study and prayer at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (often referred to as Mother Emanuel) in Charleston, South Carolina. Pastors Pinckney and Simmons were both graduates of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. The shooter was a member of an ELCA congregation.

A resolution to commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance for the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine was adopted by the Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA on August 8, 2019. Congregations of the ELCA are encouraged reaffirm their commitment to repenting of the sins of racism and white supremacy which continue to plague this church, to venerate the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine, and to mark this day of penitence with study and prayer.

The ELCA has prepared resources to aid congregations in the commemoration:

An online ELCA Prayer Service for the Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine, including Presiding Bishop Eaton and leaders from around the church, is being prepared for viewing beginning on June 17, 2020.