wfn.org | Presbyterians Aid Burned Black Churches in the South

[PCUSA_NEWS@ecunet.org]

 May 30, 1996 
 
 
 
96209Presbyterians Aid Burned  Black Churches in the South  
  
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--Responding to the suspicious burning of more than 17 
black churches in Alabama and in six other states over the past 16 months, 
the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley has received more than $10,000 in 
relief funds from Presbyterians to help the congregations rebuild. 
 
     In April, Presbyterian World Service (PWS) rushed $7,500 in One Great 
Hour of Sharing funds to the presbytery. PWS, the crisis ministry of the 
denomination, provides assistance for the immediate relief of people 
suffering from natural, civil and technological disasters. 
 
     Although black churches in other presbyteries have been destroyed, 
Sheppards and Lapsley was the first one to come to PWS's attention. 
Information from other parts of the country is still being gathered, making 
additional financial responses likely, according to officials. 
 
     According to the Klanwatch Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, 
a nonprofit human and civil rights organization based in Montgomery, Ala., 
four black churches were burned recently in Greene County in Boligee, Ala. 
They are Mount Zion Baptist Church and Jerusalem Baptist Church on Dec. 22 
and Little Zion Baptist Church and Mount Zoar Baptist Church on Jan. 11. 
 
     The Rev. Eugenia A. Gamble, associate executive presbyter of Sheppards 
and Lapsley Presbytery, said estimates are that it will cost roughly 
$80,000 per church to rebuild and that enough money has been raised so far 
to rebuild one church. 
 
     Gamble told the Presbyterian News Service that the presbytery has 
received $10,346.87, but added that additional funds have also been sent 
directly to the Greene County Emergency Fund in Boligee, Ala., from PWS. 
She said all money donated through the presbytery to the Greene County fund 
will be used for the purchase of building materials and supplies for the 
churches. 
 
     "I'm delighted because we believe that as the monies continue to come 
in, there'll be enough to rebuild all of the [burned churches] by the end 
of August," Gamble said. 
 
     "We hope to have a significant Presbyterian presence down there 
working in rebuilding those churches," said Stan E. Hankins, associate for 
disaster response U.S.A. in the Worldwide Ministries Division. 
 
     Gamble said that at the request of the victimized congregations, 
Washington Quaker Workcamps (WQW) out of Washington, D.C., will coordinate 
all offers of assistance from individuals and religious organizations that 
desire to be part of the rebuilding efforts. The first of the summer 
workcamps is scheduled June 7-9 and others are scheduled through Aug. 25.  
 
     Volunteers and funding for the ecumenical workcamps are desperately 
needed, according to Susan Hill, WQW steering committee member.  Hill said 
any individuals or groups wanting to volunteer their time or make a 
donation can call (703) 319-9696. 
 
     "We're hoping that this will be a really wonderful witness to the fact 
that these churches are not standing alone now and that people of faith 
generally feel in unity with them and want to help them and acknowledge 
that we are all children of God," Hill said. 
           
     Indeed, the fire bombings have not gone unchallenged. Five South 
Carolina presbyteries; Charleston-Atlantic, Foothills, New Harmony, 
Providence and Trinity, adopted a public statement condemning racism and 
the burnings this year during their spring stated meetings.  
 
     In April, the Christian Coalition offered a $25,000 reward for 
information leading to the conviction of anyone involved in the fires and 
challenged other religious and civil rights groups to provide more money. 
 
     A delegation from the National Council of Churches (NCC), an 
organization of 33 Protestant and Orthodox denominations (including the 
PC(USA), is currently traveling through the South, building community 
awareness about the fires and critiquing the ongoing investigations. 
 
     The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in 
Washington conducted a hearing on the fires May 21. Testimony was given by 
officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Southern Baptist Convention, the 
Christian Coalition, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the 
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 
      
     According to the Center for Democratic Renewal (CDR), a nonprofit, 
Atlanta-based civil and human rights organization, from January 1990 
through March 1996 nearly 50 African-American and interracial churches in 
Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and other Southern states have 
been bombed, burned or defaced. 
 
     Federal authorities say they have hundreds of agents working on the 
cases, but some community and religious leaders have questioned the 
seriousness of the probes and why the fires have not become a more visible 
national issue. 
 
     Additionally, some local officials have told victims that theirs are 
isolated cases, the results of accidents or electrical fires. Some 
investigators have even implied that the congregations are setting their 
own churches on fire. 
 
      "There seems to be a strong element of denial (among many 
investigators),"said Hankins, who met recently with pastors of burned 
churches in Alabama, who told him they believe most of the burnings are 
racially motivated. 
 
     Rose Johnson, a CDR spokesperson, said that although each burning has 
been unique, there have been some common elements involved in most of them 
-- including a shift among authorities from an arson investigation to a 
criminal one. 
 
     "In most instances, the congregants have been interviewed and 
interrogated about problems with their churches," Johnson said. "Problems 
that the parishioners have with their pastors and so forth. And most of the 
people in these communities are quite intimidated by this line of 
questioning that makes them look like suspects in the burning down of their 
own churches." 
 
     Federal investigators have said they lack evidence to conclude that 
there is a regional or national racial conspiracy behind the attacks. 
Still, officials do not rule out race as a factor in at least some of the 
fires and defend their handling of the probes. 
 
     Myron Marlin, a Justice Department spokesperson, said 17 of the 
approximately 50 cases have been resolved. "It's one of the largest 
investigations we've got going," Marlin said of the inquiry, which involves 
FBI agents. 
 
     Despite claims that officials have balked at connecting the incidents 
with racial issues, Marlin said, "These fires may have been motivated by a 
number of factors, but certainly several of the cases that have already 
been solved have already been shown to be motivated by race." 
 
     Marlin added, "The civil rights division [of the Justice Department] 
is involved in these cases because of the possibility that these might be 
motivated by race." 
 
     "This is an issue about racism," said the Rev. Otis Turner, associate 
for racial justice policy in the National Ministries Division. "It's not 
simply about black churches being burned, but it's about a climate in this 
country that fosters racism." 
 
 
(Information for this story was also compiled by the National Council of 
Churches and Religion News Service.) 

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