STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We've also been reporting on Sunday services at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. That's where nine people were shot and killed last week.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
That tragedy was on the minds of worshipers across this country. Marissa Jaikumar is an assistant pastor at Marina Christian Fellowship in Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHURCH SERVICE)
MARISSA JAIKUMAR: We pray in the name of Jesus that we could be agents of the change that's so desperately needed in this world. I pray that we would have the boldness and the courage to stand up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
INSKEEP: That's a voice from Los Angeles. Now, on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, Pastor Matthew Palmer spoke at Grace Community Church.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHURCH SERVICE)
PASTOR MATHEW PALMER: I know sometimes prayer seems too simple or sometimes overstated, but it's the most powerful thing that we know to do right now. So I'm going to encourage you to pray that God would be pretty good out of this tragedy. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.