wfn.org | Responds to Burning Black Churches

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3008 notes).

Note 3006 by UMNS on June 12, 1996 at 15:44 Eastern (6030 characters).

SEARCH:   burning churches, fires, black, African-American,
Thompson, Grove, Robbins, Kimbrough

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Contact:  Joretta Purdue                    292(10-21-30-71){3006}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722            May 12, 1996

United Methodists respond actively
to burning of African-American churches

     WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- United Methodist response to the
continuing destruction of predominantly African-American churches
in the South has been intense and constructive.
     As the number of these arsons continued to climb, the head of
the denomination's Commission on Religion and Race decried the
reluctance of some people to admit that "these acts of terrorism
have racial overtones and undertones."
     In a statement issued June 10, Barbara Thompson, general
secretary of the commission, likened combating racism to the Greek
myth of the hydra, in which two heads would grow when one was cut
off.
     "We challenge every local church pastor of every denomination
to teach and preach that racism is more than just an issue of
civil rights, but that it is a profoundly theological issue,"
Thompson said. "It is a sin because it denies the creative genius
of God."
     Bishop William Grove, president of the Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, and the Rev. Bruce
Robbins, its general secretary, issued a joint statement that
called the church burnings "horrible crimes."
     "The church members have fought against racism and prejudice
throughout the years, and today they continue to suffer from
persecution and hatred," they observed. "We must pray and work to
prevent further violence."
     Grove and Robbins said they are thankful for the strength and
faithful witness of these church communities. "We will do all we
can to stand with these church people today and look forward to a
day when racism is eliminated from society," they pledged.
     The Rev. Walter L. Kimbrough, vice president of the board of
Black Methodists for Church Renewal, Inc. (BMCR), the
denomination's black caucus,  said that violent crime is
everywhere. "The victims are all of us regardless of our station
in life." Everyone pays the price of these criminal acts, he said.
     Kimbrough expressed what he called BMCR's "righteous
indignation [about] the dastardly acts of violence levied upon our
sacred places of worship." 
     Burning worship centers, he said, has left the African-
American community saddened and angry because "these are the very
places where we find a ray of hope even when hope unborn had
died." He also appealed to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to
proceed diligently in the apprehension and prosecution of the
people responsible for these criminal acts.
     The denomination's Board of Church and Society has been
involved for years with the Center for Democratic Renewal that
monitors hate groups, according to Hilary Shelton, a board staff
member who sits on the center's board of directors.
     The center had recorded more than 40 church bombings by May
of this year, Shelton noted. He accompanied the pastors and
officials of the National Council of Churches on visits with Reno
and other federal officials here June 9 and 10.
     On June 11, he watched as the Judiciary Committee of the
House of Representatives approved the Church Arson Prevention Act
of 1996 and forwarded it for consideration by the full House. This
act would make it easier for federal authorities to become
involved in such investigations, Shelton explained.
     "It is very important that we have people who are extremely
technologically proficient doing the investigations," Shelton
said, adding that the Justice Department can bring technological
resources and research capabilities to the field. 
     Hate groups, he reported, are sharing both the technology and
strategies for eluding apprehension for these crimes through the
internet.
     Shelton noted that most, but not all, of the burnings have
occurred in isolated rural locations and that local sheriff's
departments, although quite competent, often are understaffed.
     "Both the Justice Department and the Treasury Department have
been very actively involved and seem to be extremely committed to
bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to justice," Shelton
commented. "They worked very closely with the black churches that
were burned and with the mainline denomination churches who have
been extremely concerned."
     In late May the South Carolina Annual (regional) Conference
of the United Methodist Church created a fund to help rebuild
churches and the NCC has announced the establishment of "Burned
Churches Fund" for the same purpose.
     In Thompson's statement -- titled "How Long, O Lord, How
Long?" -- she outlined seven "minimal steps to combat racism" that
local churches could do. 
     They included incorporating lessons about the sin of racism
and on construction of an inclusive faith community into vacation
Bible school; studying "When Hate Groups Come to Town: a Handbook
of Effective Community Responses," sold by the Center for
Democratic Renewal in Atlanta; and financial contributions to
funds established to assist the churches.
     Other steps suggested by Thompson include the following
actions:
     -- develop area "watches" to protect African-American
churches;
     -- "assist the affected churches in clean-up" and other
helpful ways;
     -- encourage business people to be generous in support of
rebuilding, as for example, discounting construction materials;
     -- "do not be silent." As Howard Thurman wrote in Deep Is the
Hunger, "'Do not be silent; there is no limit to the power that
may be released through you.'" 
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