Rev. Pinckney, who was among the nine people killed at a church shooting, befriended a Philadelphia pastor under unique circumstances.
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It was almost as if Reverend Mark Tyler’s voice weighed two tons and his tongue, devoid of muscles, struggled unmercifully to lift every word spoken to me over the phone about his friend who was among the nine people killed when Mr. Dylann Roof, a 21 year-old white man whose father gave him a gun as a birthday gift, open fired Wednesday on a congregation attending a historic A.M.E church in South Carolina.
Reverend Tyler’s friend was the church’s pastor, Mr. Clementa Pinckney.
“I knew him very well. When you were around him you got a sense you were around a person with purpose,” he said.
In response to the tragedy, Rev. Tyler has organized an 7p.m interfaith prayer vigil tonight at his church, Mother Bethel A.M.E, also a historic place of worship for African-Americans.
Black history, more so its preservation, is was what bonded Rev. Tyler and Rev. Pinckney. In that space, they shared common goals and concerns and pontificated often on the subject of preserving the old buildings in which their congregations gathered.
Mother Bethel A.M.E, located in a section of Philadelphia called Society Hill, was founded in 1794 by Mr. Richard Allen, who founded the African Methodist Episcopal church, an independent denomination.
Mother Emanuel A.M.E, the building Mr. Roof walked into shortly after 8p.m on Wednesday, was erected in 1891, after its prior locations were destroyed by white supremacist in 1822 and an earthquake in 1886.
“We so appreciate(d) the opportunity to serve these churches… churches most people never dream of pastoring,” said Rev. Tyler, who in 2000 traveled to Mother Bethel A.M.E and wept because he didn’t think he’d be able to ever visit the historic Philadelphia church. “It’s almost sacrilege to think about being the pastor of Mother Bethel,” he added.
Now as the pastor of the famous institution that has a marvelous museum component, Rev. Tyler admits he still has a “sense of awe” when he walks into the church, which is located 6th & Lombard Streets.
Rev. Pinckney, who was also a state senator, approached his role as pastor of Emanuel A.M.E with the same level of humility, implied Rev. Tyler.
“He was so humble about his position, whereas others may have felt like they deserved it.”
A fiery activist who confronts injustice and racism head-on in both the pulpit and at protests, Rev. Tyler this morning was unable to formulate his usual impressive string of words and ideas that brilliantly communicate societal observation, as he was “dealing with the grief.”
“I’ve lost a friend and colleague… The relationship was so personal,” he tells Techbook Online exclusively. “Emanuel A.M.E was a mirror image of Mother Bethel in the South.”
When asked if forgives Mr. Roof, Rev. Tyler said:
“God is all forgiving, but humans are a little more complex. If people seek forgiveness, we should give it… But right now, people are entitled to their emotions.”
Embracing grief is the term Mr. Asa Khalif, an activist and a comrade of sorts to Rev. Tyler, wanted to hear. Mr. Khalif, who comes from a long line of pastors and even himself acknowledged his calling to preach the Gospel at age 11, woke up this morning with a heavy heart.
He was quickly angered when he heard several clergymen on the news calling for calm.
“Can we grieve for a moment? Can we cry about the lost of a pastor and innocent people?” questioned Mr. Khalif, rhetorically.
A space to cry is what Rev. Tyler aims to provide tonight with his vigil. It will be a space, he said, for “collective grieving.”
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Photo: Reverend Mark Tyler, Pastor, Mother Bethel A.M.E./C. Norris – ©2015