New London — More than 100 people joined hands outside the Trinity Missionary Baptist Church as they sang “We Shall Overcome” on Monday evening to remember the nine victims of the recent massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston, S.C.

The song closed an hourlong vigil that brought together people from a variety of faiths to show support for the families of the nine victims, as well as the family of the shooting suspect.

The resounding message of the gathering was that the community should be united, in times of crisis and in times of peace.

“At some point, this community needs to come together when there is not a tragedy,” said Rev. Florence D.J. Clarke, pastor of Walls Clarke Temple African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in New London, who grew up one-and-a-half blocks away from Emanuel A.M.E. church in Charleston, “but just to say that we are our brother’s keeper and we have to love one another to live with one another.”

Trinity Missionary pastor, the Rev. Wade A. Hyslop, said he hoped the vigil would “let people know we’re still striving for peace in our communities.”

“One of the things we need to understand is that whatever happened in Charleston, S.C., could certainly happen here in New London,” Hyslop said. “One of the things that I hope that we will accomplish out of this is not just to come together for this cause, but there might be other causes that come up from time to time and as they come up that we can learn to work together as a community.”

Hyslop was joined by about a dozen other clergy members, some of whom spoke, offered prayers and led the group in song.

Bishop Benjamin K. Watts, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church emphasized that there is no “black church as it is so called,” and that people of all backgrounds are welcome at his and all other churches.

“The only reason we should separate colors is when we’re washing clothes,” the Rev. L. David Cornish of Mount Moriah Fire Baptized Holiness Church said.

Those at Monday’s event also spoke of the need to “address the elephant in the room” and to stop ignoring racism in America.

“The terror that was endured in Charleston was not the terror of mental illness, it was not the terror of class, it was the terror of racism,” said Jerry Fisher, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut. “And that is what we must all strive together to fight. We must fight the racism, the color separation and the inability for human beings to see each other as human beings.”

Those in the crowd held signs that read "Unity in the Community, "Fight Racism to End Racism," and "Love and Not Hate." The crowd was reflective but upbeat as the speakers urged the group to not allow violence to deter them for standing up for their beliefs.

“These acts of violence are not isolated, they are acts of terrorism,” Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio said. “They are meant to terrorize us, they are meant to give us fear so that we will stop fighting for the progress that we believe in. Well, we need to reject that fear and keep fighting for what we believe in.”

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung