wfn.org | United Methodist congregation hosts service after Atlanta violence

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Aug. 6, 1999 News media contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.    10-71B{408}

By Alice Smith*

ATLANTA (UMNS) - Gathering across faith lines Aug. 4 to mourn the deaths of
20 people in a three-week blood bath of violence, Atlantans heard calls from
the city's religious leaders and mayor to refrain from dwelling on the past
and work for a "better Atlanta, a better nation."

"Our loss is tremendous," said the Rev. Don Harp, senior minister of
Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, just blocks from the two office
buildings where a gunman killed nine people on July 29.  "But in this city
there are hundreds of thousands of people who still do the right thing. ...
We affirm the goodness of people ... but it may be time for us to get our
hands dirty to help solve problems."

On a personal level, he pledged his support and that of his 5,000-member
congregation to work toward finding ways to curb violence in the city.

Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell asked the Peachtree Road congregation to host
the "Service of Hope and Remembrance," several days after a deranged day
trader first bludgeoned his wife and two children to death and then traveled
to two offices where he had traded to continue his killing spree. He later
shot and killed himself as police surrounded his car.

Other victims remembered at the interfaith service included six members of a
southwest Atlanta family who were shot to death by a man who then killed
himself, and two Cobb County police officers who were slain in an assault on
the house of a man who had shot and wounded another officer.

The service began at noon with a moment of silence for those who had died as
the church bells tolled.  Outside traffic on busy Peachtree Street came to a
halt.

Among the fatalities of the previous week's mass killing were a Jew, two
Muslims and a Hindu.  Representatives of each faith spoke at the service, in
addition to Harp and Campbell, an Episcopalian.  The service was televised
locally and broadcast live to the nation by CNN.

Families of the 20 deceased victims filled the first six pews on either side
of the aisle.  Altogether, about 800 attended the service at the end of
which a candle was lighted for each of the victims.

Campbell told the families that despite their loss they were not alone.
"Today we come together beyond race, beyond borders, beyond religion to a
place where heaven and earth meet, a place called faith.  It is the rock of
faith on which we stand."

He expressed gratitude to the police officers, medical personnel, and
counselors for their professionalism and dedication; to numerous residents
of the city for their compassion; and to the families of the victims for
"teaching us about God's grace and power.  As I travel our city, time and
time again I have met courage and compassion. ... It is a lesson we must
never forget, that the power of unity, love and compassion overcomes
bitterness and hatred."

Like Harp, he asked Atlantans to work toward a "nobler, better world that
brings out the best of humanity, not the worst."  He quoted civil rights
leader Martin Luther King Jr.: "God is able to make a way out of no ways."

Harp talked about God's presence during the darkest times of life.  "God is
our ally," he said.  "He shall sustain us. He shall strengthen us. ...
Ultimately, God will not be defeated ... violence will not rule."

Harp acknowledged the appropriateness of being angry and in mourning but
asked Atlantans to take gun control seriously. "It does cause anger in me
when I realize it's more difficult to get a prescription filled than it is
to buy a handgun. Somewhere today we must find ways to protect our
children."

Children must be taught, he added, "that the seeds of violence only sow and
reap other seeds of violence."

During the service, two letters were red, one from President Clinton
expressing his condolences and one from 12-year-old Chanell Moody whose
mother worked in one of the office buildings where the shootings took place.

"I am very fortunate that my mom made it out alive," she wrote. "It's OK to
cry and be afraid, I understand. If we keep God in our hearts we cannot
lose. I love all of you and thank you for being strong."
# # #

*Smith is executive director of the Georgia United Methodist Communications
Council.

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