wfn.org | Church fires demand action, UCC leaders say

[powellb@ucc.org]

          Here is a release on a press statement released today (June
          10) by three leaders of the United Church of Christ
          regarding the southern church burnings.

Embargoed for release until 10:30 a.m. ET
June 10, 1996

Office of Communication
United Church of Christ

Hans Holznagel, press contact
(216) 736-2214

On the World Wide Web:
http://www.apk.net/ucc

Southern church fires demand action
by government, people of faith, UCC leaders say

      WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The president and two national
executives of the United Church of Christ -- noting an
escalation of violence and fearing that people as well as
property may be targeted -- joined with other religious leaders
today (June 10) in expressing "moral outrage" at the bombings
and burnings of 32 churches in the Southern United States and
called for "swift, forceful action" by the U.S. government.
      The written statement, invoking fire as a biblical symbol
of God's presence and power and condemning its violent abuse by
white supremacists, was signed by the Rev. Dr. Paul H. Sherry,
president of the United Church of Christ; Bernice Powell
Jackson, executive director of its Commission for Racial
Justice; and Valerie E. Russell, executive director of its
Office for Church in Society, all of Cleveland.
      It was one of several written statements released at an
ecumenical press conference in Washington, where religious
leaders called for more-effective investigations into the series
of church bombings dating back to January 1995.
      "There are two things that really outrage me," said
Jackson, who recently visited the victimized churches and
attended today's press conference.  "First, these are houses of
God that are burning.  Second, churches have always been central
to the life and vitality of the African American community.  So
when you burn a church, you are burning a house of God and the
support center and nerve center of our community."
      Russell, whose office does social action work in behalf of
the UCC, said:  "It is a moral outrage that in 1996 this nation
could tolerate the continuation of such violence, and that it is
allowed by our indifference and silence."
      President Sherry added:  "An outcry by all people of faith
is needed now, lest people as well as buildings become targets
of these ugly and violent attacks.  We dare not remain silent."
      Calling the series of bombings and arsons a "national
moral crisis," the UCC leaders' written statement called upon
the U.S. Attorney General and Justice Department to investigate
more objectively and more thoroughly, urged bipartisan
Congressional action and encouraged members of the United Church
of Christ and other denominations "to join efforts to rebuild
these churches and to implore the federal government to act more
aggressively to end this spread of terror."
      "In this season of Pentecost, may God's spirit kindle a
holy fire that causes people of faith to break the silence,
react against violence and demand an end to these outrageous
attacks upon our brothers and sisters in Christ," the statement
said.
      The United Church of Christ, with national offices in
Cleveland, has 1.5 million members and more than 6,100 local
churches in the United States and Puerto Rico.

#     #     #

[EDITORS:  The United Church of Christ leaders' complete written
statement follows.]

A Statement on Church Bombings and Burnings
in the Southern United States

Issued on June 10, 1996,
by these leaders of the United Church of Christ:

Bernice Powell Jackson, Executive Director, Commission for
Racial Justice
Valerie E. Russell, Executive Director, Office for Church in
Society
The Rev. Dr. Paul H. Sherry, President, United Church of Christ

      We join a growing number of U.S. religious leaders in
expressing outrage at the 32 burnings of African American
churches that have occurred since January 1995 in Alabama,
Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina and Tennessee.

      These repeated bombings and arsons constitute a national
moral crisis.  They demand swift, forceful action by the U.S.
Department of Justice, leading to the arrest and prosecution of
those responsible.  While some suspects have been arrested, many
of the cases remain open.  Stories told by members of bombed and
burned churches indicate that local and even federal
investigators have sometimes gone no further than to question
the victims themselves.

      The federal government must use all the authority and
resources at its disposal to see that objective investigators
are assigned to these cases, that they investigate thoroughly
and that the perpetrators of these crimes are found and brought
to justice.  We urge federal investigators not to dismiss the
possibility of connections among these incidents, and ask them
to remain open to any evidence that may suggest an organized
effort.  We call upon the U.S. Congress and its appropriate
committees to focus bipartisan attention to this crisis.  We
call upon Attorney General Janet Reno to bring the full weight
of her office to bear and to insist that nothing less than
justice be pursued for these churches.  Only then will the
bombers and arsonists stop these terrorist attacks.

      It is a moral outrage that in 1996 this nation tolerates
the continuation of such violence.  Each of these burnings is a
double tragedy, because a fire in an African American church
damages not only a house of God but also a center of life and
vitality of the local African American community.  It is a sad
irony that these attacks continue in part because of the
indifference and silence of the nation?s churches.  We call upon
members and congregations of the United Church of Christ and
other denominations to contribute to financial appeals toward
the rebuilding of these churches, to hold the victims in prayer
and to take part in work camps now being organized for the
rebuilding efforts.

      More than 30 years ago, in the months following the 1963
bombing of Sixteenth Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, the
United Church of Christ responded by forming the Committee for
Racial Justice Now -- which since has become the Commission for
Racial Justice, a national agency of the church.  Other
resources of the church were also channeled to support the civil
rights movement in the 1960s.  Remembering that history of
creative response to racism and hatred, let the church now
recommit itself to putting an end to racial violence in all its
forms.

      As people of faith, we are particularly offended by this
use of fire to destroy houses of God -- and by the historic
violent abuse of fire by such groups as the Ku Klux Klan and the
Aryan Nation to intimidate, damage and discourage the African
American community.  In our Christian tradition, we know that
fire can be a force for good, a sign of God?s presence and
power.  It is a burning bush of revelation, a pillar of fire
leading a people out of slavery, tongues of fire causing people
to speak God's praise.

      We say now that the church is not and will not be
intimidated by violence.  Just as Jesus was resurrected from
death, so the spirit of these burned churches is rising from
charred embers and ashes.  We call on members of the 
United Church of Christ and other churches to stand up for
justice, to join efforts to rebuild these churches and to
implore the federal government to act more aggressively to end
this spread of terror.

      To the innocent victims of these church bombings, we say
that you are not alone.  The God of creation and all peoples is
with you, and we are with you as people of God.  We want those
responsible for these crimes to know that we will not ignore or
tolerate their acts.  We want them brought to justice.

      In this season of Pentecost, may God's spirit kindle a
holy fire that causes people of faith to break the silence,
react against violence and demand an end to these outrageous
attacks upon our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Bernice Powell Jackson
Valerie E. Russell
Paul H. Sherry