“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:7)
To our brothers and sisters across this nation,
With broken hearts and holy anger, we speak today as Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. We are grieving and outraged that once again, violence has defiled the sacred. Just this week, a church in Michigan was turned from a sanctuary of worship into a scene of horror. Lives were taken. Families shattered. A community’s peace destroyed.
This is not an isolated tragedy. From Charleston’s Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church to Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, from mosques and temples to churches of every denomination, houses of prayer have been invaded by hatred and gunfire. These are sacred spaces—meant for praise, fellowship, and healing—that have been desecrated by violence. And we say with one voice: enough.
The Psalmist declares, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Yet refuge is being stolen from God’s people when they gather in prayer. Outrage is the right response, but outrage must lead to action. We call upon the faithful in Zion and beyond to be vigilant: to review security plans, to train leaders, to prepare congregations. Vigilance is not fear—it is stewardship of the flock.
But our cry is not only to our churches. We cry out to our leaders at every level of government. Do not grow numb to this bloodshed. Do not treat these tragedies as mere headlines. Your duty is to safeguard the freedom of all people to worship without terror. That requires more than words—it requires the courage to act.
We also speak to the nation’s conscience. Words matter. When the air is thick with harsh rhetoric, suspicion, and disrespect, it gives permission to those already harboring hate. From the highest offices to the smallest circles, we need words that heal, not words that wound.
Beloved, we still believe that light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5). As long as people of faith lift their voices in prayer, hatred will not have the last word. But we must stand together—Black and white, Christian and Jew, Muslim and Sikh, believer and nonbeliever—to say that violence in sacred places will never be normalized, and silence in the face of evil will never be acceptable.
We mourn. We pray. We demand change. And we will not stop until every house of worship is once again what God intended it to be: a house of prayer, a house of peace, a house of life.
Sincerely,
The Board of Bishops of The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Bishop Brian R. Thompson, Sr., President
Bishop Darryl B. Starnes, Senior Bishop
Bishop W. Darin Moore
Bishop George D. Crenshaw
Bishop Hilliard Dogbe
Bishop U.U. Effiong
Bishop Eric L. Leake
Bishop Daran H. Mitchell
Bishop Anthony N. Witherspoon
Bishop Melanie Miller
Bishop Dwayne A. Walker
Bishop Bernando J. Ngunza
Bishop Seth O. Lartey, Located
Bishop Joseph Johnson, Retired
Bishop Marshall H. Strickland, Retired
Bishop Nathaniel Jarrett, Jr., Retired
Bishop George W. C. Walker, Sr., Retired
Bishop S. Chuka Ekeman, Retired
Bishop Warren M. Brown, Retired
Bishop Kenneth Monroe, Retired
Bishop Dennis V. Proctor, Retired
Bishop Michael A. Frencher, Sr., Retired
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