wfn.org | Vigil brings healing words to Jasper, Texas, community

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

June 18, 1998        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
{369}

NOTE: This story is a sidebar to UMNS #368. A photograph is available.

By Shannon W. Martin*

The tragedy of  murder in Jasper, Texas, gave way to peace and
reconciliation during a vigil service on the local courthouse lawn.

As many as 2,000 people, including 10 area ministers, gathered on June
15 for an hour-long prayer vigil described by the Rev. Jerry Neff as a
time for healing for all of God's people.

Neff, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church Jasper, had just
returned from an overseas vacation that afternoon.

"I was disappointed to see how Jasper was being portrayed in the
international media," he said. But seeing how the East Texas town of
7,800 had pulled together made him proud of his community, he said.

"What happened here last week was not the true face of Jasper, Texas,"
he said. Looking around at a diverse crowd, standing side-by-side in
prayer, Neff said, "This is what Jasper is really about."

The vigil, sponsored by the Jasper Ministerial Alliance, included prayer
for James Byrd Jr.'s family and the three men accused of killing him in
what is believed to have been a racially motivated hate crime. Blacks
and whites worshipped together, often clutching hands and embracing as
they sang traditional hymns and listened to the message of healing from
area ministers.

"We ask that you let the healing begin right now," said the Rev. Bobby
Hudson as he began the prayer vigil. "Healing cannot begin until the
end, and we pray that this is the end."

The message echoed by every minister that spoke from the courthouse
gazebo was one of love, forgiveness and racial reconciliation.

Neff ended the vigil with a challenge: "We pray that, within this
community, the fences we have built in our own immaturity will be
knocked down."

				# # # 

*Martin is director of communications for the United Methodist Church's
Texas Conference. 

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/