KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? A congregation whose two leaders are charged with killing their son said the church was not a cult and didn’t believe in “tough love.”

Church leaders also used a prayer vigil and news conference Wednesday to urge the public and media to presume Neil Edgar, 47, and his wife, Christy, 46, innocent unless proven guilty of the charges against them.

The Edgars of Kansas City, Kan., were charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the child abuse death of their 9-year-old adopted son, Brian Edgar. The couple also was charged with three counts of child abuse in connection with the treatment of their three other adopted children, ages 16, 12 and 9. The Edgars made their first court appearance Thursday in Wyandotte County District Court.

Between 40 and 50 people prayed during a vigil on the steps of the Wyandotte County courthouse that their leaders would know that the church supports them.

The crowd included about two dozen members of God’s Creation Outreach Ministry in Kansas City, Kan., where the Edgars are pastors. The church is affiliated with the Church of God in Christ, which is Pentecostal in nature.

“Let them know,” yelled Emanuel Newton, bishop of the church’s jurisdiction in western Missouri, his voice boosted by an amplifier. “The good they have done, the thousands of people who have a life because of these two people.”

Wyandotte County Dist. Atty. Nick Tomasic alleged Tuesday that the four children were frequent victims of abuse that involved binding and gagging before bedtime. The three surviving siblings are in protective custody.

Tomasic also said that the practice of strict physical discipline “is a teaching of the church” and that the case could yield more charges.

Tomasic recalled that a member of the church had been convicted a few years ago of using a stun gun against a child. Neil Edgar had been called as a witness, Tomasic said.

But Clifford Jackson, the superintendent of the Church of God in Christ jurisdiction in western Missouri, said he had known the Edgars for about nine years and never saw signs they abused children. He said the church did not preach the tough discipline of children.

“The Bible teaches us to bring up our children,” Jackson said. “We are to teach children the principles and the standards of righteousness.”

Brian, who was homeschooled, had been dead several hours before he was taken to a hospital early Monday. Police then arrested Neil Edgar.

An autopsy Monday found the child had gagged on a piece of cloth that was stuffed in his mouth, and asphyxiated. The child’s mouth had been taped shut, said Dr. Alan Hancock, the Wyandotte County coroner.

New and old marks on his chest and upper arms, as well as his wrists and ankles, indicated he had been bound, Hancock said.