wfn.org | PARTNERSHIP FORMED TO REBUILD BURNED CHURCHES

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Title:Partnership formed to rebuild burned churches
September 23, 1996
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
September 23, 1996
Cliff_Willis.parti@ecunet.org
     
96b-80    
     MEMPHIS, Tenn. (NCC) -- The task of rebuilding houses
of worship burned for reasons of hate was given a
significant boost Sept. 7 in Memphis when the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and Congress
of National Black Churches met to form a partnership to
assist the devastated churches.

     Their joint National Rebuilding Task Force Initiative
is making available a package of resources for the burned
churches, participants announced. The package includes
grants, in-kind contributions, professional and volunteer
services from a number of sources, along with $10 million in
private sector loan guarantees, administered by HUD, to help
in the rebuilding. This loan program is part of the Church
Arson Prevention Act, passed and signed into law this
summer.

     Among the 250 participants at the one-day National
Rebuilding Initiative Conference, held at LeMoyne-Owen
College and Metropolitan Baptist Church, were pastors of
burned churches from Tennessee and adjoining states.
Presenters included Andrew Cuomo, assistant secretary of
HUD; the Rev. Albert Pennybacker and the Rev. Mac Charles
Jones of the NCC; (Ms.) Sullivan Robinson, CNBC; Memphis
Mayor W.W. Herrenton, and Flo McAfee, White House Office of
Public Liaison.

     The "burning of a church affects us all," said Cuomo to
the group. "And these burnings are all the more
reprehensible when you consider so many people came to this
country seeking religious freedom. The burning of a church
is an attack on a basic freedom."

     Cuomo stressed that the arsons are a symptom of a
greater illness in our society. "It is the illness of
bigotry, hatred or frustration that prompted the arson, so
we have to get at this illness and remove it," he said to
loud applause.

     "Our purpose here today is to see how three
organizations can form a beautiful partnership (and) put
together financial packages to rebuild our burned churches,"
he continued. "And the National Council of Churches has been
at this matter for some time and their work has been
exemplary." 

     Jones, while praising the new partnership with HUD and
the CNBC, admonished the churches to "do for self."
Everybody must put something on the table, Jones declared.
"If there is to be a real partnership, we all must
contribute," Jones noted. "In this partnership you must be
the driver--you've got to call the shots. Black churches
have a tradition of independence in our community -- let's
keep it that way."

     During his brief remarks, Pennybacker of the NCC
emphasized that the council was not "in the business of
building churches, but in creating a reconciled life
together." Foremost among the objectives at the NCC was to
"allow the churches to move into the future with strength
and integrity," the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
minister explained. And he hammered away at what he deemed
the root causes of the fires.  "Racism is a monster and it
feeds and satisfies only itself--and we must call racism
into question."

     Robinson of the Congress of National Black Churches
noted that she was proud to be in cooperation with the
rebuilding effort. "We at the CNBC understand the pain," she
began, "and the fires have brought us together like never
before. We are resolved not to go into the 21st century with
the same degree of hatred that has fomented these fires." 

     A pilot meeting of the National Rebuilding Task Force
Initiative was held two weeks ago in Columbia, S.C., with
attendees including South Carolina pastors from burned
churches. The next in the series of regional conferences is
set for Oct. 12 in New Orleans.

     Following are some other developments in the NCC's
ongoing campaign to rebuild black churches: 
 
     * The NCC has taken out an ad in 10 black newspapers to
continue the rebuilding of black churches and the fight
against racism. Over the last two weeks there have been
black churches burned in Sacramento, Calif.; Arkansas and
Mississippi.

     * Among a number of organizations and institutions
sponsoring fund-raising drives to rebuild burned churches is
the New York University School of Social Work. Calling their
initiative "From the Ashes," teachers and students will host
several activities to raise funds for the Burned Churches
Fund. "We just want to do our part to help those who have
had their houses of worship destroyed," said Christine
Rollet, campaign spokesperson.

     * A Church Rebuilding Conference will be held Sept.
26-29 in Birmingham, Ala., sponsored jointly by the NCC,
Washington Quaker Workcamps and Habitat for Humanity. The
conference will provide participants with an overall
understanding of the relationship between the churches and
volunteers committed to assist in the rebuilding of the
burned churches. A number of other entities that will be
collaborating in this effort will attend, along with pastors
from burned churches.

     * And Oct. 24-26, in Columbia, S.C., the NCC, in
collaboration with regional organizations in the
Southeastern U.S., will convene an anti-racism conference.
The focus of the conference will be fighting racism in the
wake of the church burnings and development of strategies
for justice and reconciliation. It will involve speakers and
participants from local, regional and national groups. 

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