wfn.org | Convocation condemns black church burnings

[DISCNEWS.parti@ecunet.org]

August 23, 1996
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
Cliff_Willis.parti@ecunet.org
     
96b-73

     BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (DNS) -- African American members of
the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), meeting here
Aug. 2-6, have joined the chorus of religious groups
condemning the string of Southern black church fires.

     The National Convocation of the Disciples of Christ
gave more than $1,500 to the burned congregations and issued
a resolution calling for an end to the arson fires.  
 
     Altogether, Disciples have sent more than $37,000
through the denomination's Reconciliation ministry to the
Burned Churches Fund sponsored by Church World Service of
the National Council of Churches. In addition, Homeland
Ministries' Volunteers in Mission program will coordinate
work camps to help rebuild damaged or demolished church
facilities.

     "They may burn our churches but they'll never burn our
faith," declared the Rev. Timothy M. James in an opening
night address. The guilty parties will "never quench our
spirit," said the outgoing president of the National
Convocation. 

     Focusing on the conference theme, James, pastor of
Fifth Christian Church in Cleveland, Ohio, called for
worshipers to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is
"greater than the demon called racism!"

     When will the nation "ever be brave enough to deal with
the sin of racism?" asked the Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson
during the Aug. 6 closing banquet. It is difficult to "put
on a happy face" after incidents like the Simpson verdict
and the Rodney King beating, she said. 

     "I see people who are tired of bigotry, racism and
stereotyping," said the executive director of the United
Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice. Time is
running out on solving racial and other problems in American
society, according to Jackson. "It's a little before
midnight and our people are tired." 

     The Rev. Samuel D. Proctor, New York City, sees the
fires as a futile attempt to turn back the clock on civil
rights gains by African Americans. "Here we are struggling
again to stand on our feet in this society . . . and
somebody wants to turn us around.  

     "But we are strong (and) resolute," said the Bible
lecturer for the event. "We will not be turned back. If you
burn our churches or try to turn us back you've made a big
mistake. Because all you will do is set us free and cause us
to want to do better.

     "You can burn down the church building but you cannot
burn down the spirit that people have of finding resilience
in the Lord and having a comeback attitude toward life,"
said the retired educator and theologian. "You can burn down
the church, but you cannot burn down our desire for justice
and fairness in the world."

     In another program highlight, four persons were
recognized for their longtime contributions to African
American Disciples ministries. Receiving the convocation's
Liberation awards were: the Rev. William K. Fox, Kansas
City, Mo.; the Rev. Robert L. Jordan, Detroit; Richard L.
Lance, Overland Park, Kan.; and the Rev. Samuel J. Hylton,
St. Louis.

     Other agenda items for the 14th biennial gathering
included approval of a strategic plan and the installation
of officers for 1996-1998. General Minister and President
Richard L. Hamm also spoke to the biennial session.  

     Major goals of the strategic plan, "A Vision for Vital
Mission and Ministry," involve:  

     * establishing a leader development process for
laypersons and clergy, 

     * helping the denomination to "model oneness" by
strengthening Black Disciples involvement in church
structures,

     * strengthening ministries of  local congregations,

     * recruiting and nurturing African American clergy, and

     * enabling the convocation to respond proactively to
ministry needs of African American Disciples.

     Through the convocation, African American Disciples
play a primary role in helping the wider church deal with
its waning influence or "disestablishment" in American
culture, according to Hamm. Black churches have long known
what it is like to "live on the margins" and can help
"mainline" churches come to grips with a steady decline in
resources and influence that began in the 1960s. 

      As a body, the convocation can best help the church by
strengthening African American congregational life, Hamm
said. It also has a major role in "giving the rest of the
church direction at how it can be helpful" in strengthening
black Disciples churches.

      Heading the National Convocation for the next two-year
period are Della January, Springfield, Ohio, president; the
Rev. James O. Griffin, Dallas, vice president; the Rev.
Belva Brown Jordan, Lancaster, Pa., secretary; and Harvey
Thomas, Chicago, treasurer.

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