Who: Mayor Byron Brown, New York State Senate Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes,
Masten District Councilman Ulysees Wingo, Bishop Glenwood Young, Bishop James Bowman Jr.,
and COGIC General Council of Pastors and Elders Chairman, Pastor Michael Eaddy.

What: Members of the country’s largest Pentecostal denomination, the Church of God in Christ
Inc. (COGIC), will arrive in the City of Buffalo to host the March of Remembrance & Healing
Ceremony to honor and remember the ten victims of last year’s May 14 shooting at the
Jefferson Avenue Tops Market. The march will begin at State Tabernacle COGIC and travel to
the site of the shooting at Tops. The event will serve as an opening for the COGIC’s General
Council of Pastors and Elders Conference. Those who wish to participate in the march are
encouraged to attend.

The General Council of Pastors and Elders Conference is a 4-day series of workshops and
church services designed to build stronger ministries and families. The event will be the first
national meeting hosted in Western NY in over 40 years. The General Council of Pastors and
Elders Conference will run from Tuesday, August 29 to Friday, September 1, at Zion Dominion
Global Ministries COGIC in Amherst, NY.

Where: The March of Remembrance will begin at State Tabernacle COGIC located at 234
Glenwood Ave in Buffalo, NY. The Healing Ceremony will begin at 12 noon outdoors at Tops
Market at 1275 Jefferson Ave.

When: Tuesday, August 29, 2023. March or Remembrance at 11 a.m. Ceremony at 12 noon

Why: Three of the individuals killed in the May 14 shooting were members of the COGIC. One
was the sister to one of WNY’s eldest COGIC clergyman, Bishop Glenwood Young. This is the
first time members of the national church will visit the site of the May 14 shooting. The
organization will take time to mourn all of the men and women who were senselessly murdered
and remember each of the victims who were members of the national church. Their names are:
• Pearl Young- Good Samaritan COGIC Sunday School Teacher
• Heyward Patterson- State Tabernacle COGIC Member
• Aaron Salter Jr.-Tops Security Officer, and Upper Room COGIC Member

The Church Of God In Christ, Inc. is one of the world’s oldest Pentecostal faiths and the fourth
largest Protestant group in the United States, with 12,000 churches in 105 countries and millions
of adherents.