Felicia Sanders is grappling with an unexpected casualty of the deadly Emanuel AME shooting — the loss of connection to the church that shaped her life. Sanders survived the 2015 shooting by playing dead as a gunman killed nine people attending Bible study. For survivors of mass shootings, their emotional and psychological wounds are often unrecognized. Sanders says the overwhelming media attention and calls for unity and solidarity by the church have not translated into actual emotional support for survivors like her. In her eyes, the church’s leaders failed to privately minister to the most vulnerable, even as they publicly called for forgiveness and healing.

Sanders, Emanuel AME senior pastor Rev. Eric S.C. Manning, and Jennifer Berry Hawes, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter of the Post and Courier and author of 'Grace Will Lead Us Home', spoke to The Post about the aftermath of the shooting.

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