COLUMBIA, S.C.--Presidents of UM Men in North and South Carolina sent condolences to George Borwn, president of Sons of Allen in Columbia.

"We continue to hold you and your members and families in constant prayer and supplication and know that our God is able to sustain us at a time like this. May this tragedy draw us closer together as the Body of Christ," said the letter from Neil Brown, president, UMM in Western North Carolina Conference; Paul Wilson, president, UMM in North Carolina Conference and Herman Lightse, president of UM Men in South Carolina.

"At this time of mourning and sorrow, please know that your brothers in Christ in the United Methodist Church stand arm in arm and shoulder to shoulder with our Methodist brothers in the AME Church. We are one in unity, one in the Spirit, one in brotherhood."