The unimaginable happened at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on a warm Wednesday evening last June. The members of the Wednesday night Bible study had welcomed the stranger with open arms, but he had responded to their hospitality by doing the unthinkable. Opening fire, he shot and killed nine of the 12 members in attendance, then calmly left the scene.

The violent, unprovoked attack shocked and horrified the Nation, but what happened in a Charleston courtroom two days later left people stunned from coast to coast.

Family and friends of those murdered on that terrible day were present at the bond hearing of 21-year-old Dylann Roof, the young man their loved ones had welcomed so graciously just two days earlier. When the judge asked them if they had anything to say to him, one by one they rose to their feet and, incredibly, forgave the killer of their mother, their friend, their relative ... even their wife and their son.

Nadien Collier, the daughter of 70-year-old Ethel Lance, said, "I forgive you. You took something very precious away from me. I will never get to talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you."

Felicia Sanders, whose 26-year-old son, Tywanza, was shot down in front of her, had this to say: "You have killed some of the most beautiful people that I know. Every fiber in my body hurts, and I'll never be the same. Tywanza Sanders was my son ... May God have mercy on you."

And Anthony Thompson, the grieving husband of 56-year-old Myra Thompson, said this: "I forgive him and my family forgives him. But we would like him to take this opportunity to repent. Repent. Confess. Give your life to the one who matters most: Christ. So that He can change you and change your ways, so no matter what happens to you, you'll be okay."

With these quietly heroic words, a shattered community - and a shattered Nation - began to heal.

On Saturday, Feb. 27, Tacoma's own Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 1223 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, will unveil a sculpture in memory of its sister congregation, the nine people who died on that terrible day, and the three who survived. Aptly named "Forgive," the glass sculpture, commissioned by Allen AME Church and designed and created by the Museum of Glass Hot Shop, is the first memorial in the Nation to commemorate the horrific events in Charleston and the incredible power of forgiveness and love to triumph over evil and hate.

A public unveiling of the memorial, which will be placed on Tacoma's tourist registry, will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday morning at the Allen AME Church.  Polly Shephard and Felicia Sanders, two of the three survivors from Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston, will be in attendance.

The unveiling of the sculpture is part of Allen AME's Unity Day and will be followed that evening by a black tie dinner to be held at the University of Washington/Tacoma's Philip Hall at 5 p.m. in honor of the Mother Emanuel AME survivors.

The sculpture was designed and created by Tacoma Museum of Glass staff members Benjamin Cobb, Nick Davis, Gabe Feenan, Sarah Gilbert and Stephen Vest.

"The entire museum staff is honored to be asked to be part of this important project," said Museum Executive Director Debbie Lenk. "We are grateful to be selected to work with our community in the healing from this national tragedy."

For more information about the public unveiling or the black tie dinner, contact Allen AME's Communication Director Tara Young at 334.221.0396 or youngster2574@gmail.com. To learn more about the memorial statue, contact Museum of Glass Communications Manager Alex Carr at 253.284.2130 or acarr@museumofglass.org.

MOTHER EMANUEL AME MEMORIAL UNVEILING, 11 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 27, Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1223 M.L.K. Jr. Way, Tacoma, free; Black Tie Dinner, 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 27, University of Washington/Tacoma's Philip Hall, 1918 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, $65; 334.221.0396