Her husband was gunned down in cold blood, but Jennifer Pinckney refused to let bitterness enter her heart.
Now as Dylann Roof prepares to face trial for the murder of nine Bible study members—including pastor Clementa Pinckney—Jennifer stands on the promises of 1 Timothy 1:7, and encourages her children to do the same.
“Our youngest was there. I cannot instill in her to be fearful of going places and fearful of other people,” Jennifer said. “You just can’t have that sense of fear.”
Clementa Pinckney was the pastor of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. He was gunned down last year while attending a Bible study with other congregation members because suspect Roof wanted “to start a race war.”
Less than a year later, the church’s stance of forgiveness garnered them a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
“An incident of such terror and racial hatred could have sparked an outpour of anger and violence from the community, as had been the case with similar incidents in other U.S. cities. However, something different happened and the public response was not rage, vengeance, violence, but one of Christian forgiveness, unity and peace led by the congregation and the families of the nine (‘Emanuel 9’) victims,” Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G.K. Butterfield said.
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