WASHINGTON — Washington National Cathedral rang its funerary bell Thursday night to mourn the nine worshippers killed at a venerated church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Nine mournful tolls rang at 9 p.m., one for each person who was gunned down 24 hours earlier at historic Emanuel AME Church as a Wednesday-night Bible study session was coming to an end.
D.C. native Marian Peele wanted to hear the bells. She lived in Charleston for six years while her husband was stationed there with the Navy. She’s also made it a point to visit the church, because it’s one of the places where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke during his life.
Peele, who attends a small church in Glenarden, Maryland, says the news shook her to the core.
“I was just reflecting that I’ve never been worried or scared at all to be there, even if it was by myself. And I thought this is going to change everything now. I imagine churches now having people in front of the doors not as welcoming visitors, but to stand sentry. And I thought God help us all … God help us all,” she said.
Peele says people of faith take precautions without being unwelcoming to visitors.
“We don’t know all the details, but apparently they welcomed this young man in, and he sat there and took advantage of that spirit.”
Joan Haskins was also at National Cathedral to hear the mourning bells because she didn’t know what else to do.
“I’m just in shock, pretty much like everybody else. It leaves you feeling a little helpless and just without any real sense of what to do. So I thought I would come out and record this, and just share it with people who don’t live in Washington, because I know they wanted to hear it also,” said Haskins.
