wfn.org | Church arson cases continue in 'high numbers'

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

April 5, 1999  News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-31-71BP{183}

NOTE: This story is the first of two parts. A photograph is available.

By United Methodist News Service

For anyone who thought that church burnings were a thing of the past, the
deadly New Year's arson in Commerce, Ga., proved otherwise.

A 27-year-old volunteer firefighter died fighting the blaze that destroyed
New Salem United Methodist Church. Three hours after that fire, Johnson
United Methodist Church near Watkinsville, Ga., suffered smoke damage from
arson. Three other Georgia churches had burned the week before.

"Churches are still burning at high numbers," said Sandra Peters, a
consultant for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. But the lack
of publicity over such fires has made it difficult to gather statistics and
raise funds for research, advocacy and training on this issue, she said.

The numbers may be incomplete, but it is estimated that at least 56 United
Methodist churches - African-American, white and multiracial congregations
-- have burned since 1990 in reported arsons, attempted arsons, bombings or
suspicious fires. Across all denominations, the total is estimated at 330,
with the bulk of those occurring in the mid-1990s, according to the National
Council of Churches (NCC).

A June 1997 report of the National Church Arson Task Force, created by the
U.S. departments of treasury and justice, said not enough evidence was found
to support the theory that there is a national hate-filled conspiracy to
burn church buildings.

But in specific cases, such a theory has seemed valid. Last July, for
example, a jury found the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan liable for
the 1995 arson that destroyed the predominantly black Macedonia Baptist
Church in Bloomville, S.C.

Lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center had argued there was conspiracy
to commit a crime because the group's grand dragon had encouraged members to
violence. 

The Board of Global Ministries' task force on Ministries in the Midst of
Hate and Violence has continued to assist congregations of burned churches
and to help identify contributing factors of those fires by:

*	Funding rebuilding projects through Advance Special No. 982700-1 and
placing volunteer teams through the Southeastern Jurisdiction United
Methodist Volunteers in Mission.
*	Linking burned churches to United Methodist annual (regional)
conferences and trying to educate conferences about what is happening on a
national level.
*	Encouraging United Methodist women and others to clip and send
newspaper articles about church fires, in order to build a database.
*	Developing educational and training materials.
*	Sponsoring last December's National Church Burning Status Conference
in Atlanta, along with the NCC and the Center for Democratic Renewal.

Ministries in the Midst of Hate and Violence was developed after the 1995
bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. "The
objective of the ministry is to faithfully respond to acts of hate or
violence throughout the nation," Peters explained.

Part of the board's response to such acts is to link victimized communities
with local United Methodist organizations, offer church-related resources
and support efforts to "rebuild, spiritually and structurally."

A couple of times, Peters said, "we've been asked to come into communities
and convene dialogues to ease the tensions."

The Board of Global Ministries supports the National Coalition for Burned
Churches and Community Empowerment. The coalition is a multiracial,
interdenominational group of people whose houses of worship have been burned
or firebombed. Besides providing advocacy and technical assistance, the
group hopes to address the root causes of such acts of violence by offering
education, training, research and public policy programs to communities.

The Rev. Terrance Mackey, the coalition's executive director, said its
research has shown that 22 states have had church arson fires. 

"We get fires every week that are reported to our office," he noted. People
in general often are unaware of the fires if none occurs in their community.

Trends have shown the burnings have spread beyond the South to the Northeast
and Midwest. Recently, Mackey said, "Places of worship that are pastored by
females are burning at an alarming rate."

In its January 1998 briefing paper, the coalition stated its belief that
"this phenomenon of church burnings represents a defining moment in the
pre-21st century historical developments. ... Unlike other periods in
American history, this period exposes in new ways the realities of an
aggressive assault on the freedom of religion. The visible church and what
it symbolically represents is the target of that destruction."

Donations to assist in the church rebuilding and education efforts can be
made to United Methodist Advance No. 982700-1, earmarked "church burnings."
Checks can be dropped in church collection plates or mailed to Advance GCFA,
P.O. Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068.

More information about the Board of Global Ministries' work with burned
churches is available by calling Lesley Crosson at (212) 870-3916 or sending
an e-mail to lcrosson@gbgm-umc.org.

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