wfn.org | Amistad is vessel of spiritual history

[powellb@ucc.org]

March 21, 2000
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
In Cleveland, contact:
Hans Holznagel, 216-736-3863
<holznagh@ucc.org>
Barb Powell, 216-736-2217
<powellb@ucc.org>
In Connecticut, contact:
Tricia Wood, Mystic Seaport, 860-572-5317
Will Mebane, Amistad America, 203-499-2710

On the Web: <http://www.ucc.org>

Amistad is vessel of spiritual history
to church people attending March 25 launch

     MYSTIC, Conn. -- When the schooner "Amistad" is
launched on Saturday, March 25, a multiracial group of Christians
will be among hundreds of dignitaries on hand.
     For these members of the United Church of Christ, the
"Amistad" is more than a special project worth funding, and more
than a messenger of freedom and racial justice.
     It is spiritual history come alive.
     The new schooner is named for an old one.  In 1839,
captives who had been kidnaped in West Africa and endured the
brutal "Middle Passage" wound up in Cuba and were placed on a
ship called the "Amistad."  On the way to America they rebelled,
took control of the ship and tried to sail home.  Tricked by the
pilot, they and the ship were captured by U.S. authorities near
Long Island and hauled to New Haven, Conn.  Thus began a legal
battle whose climax came in 1841, when the Supreme Court ruled
the captives were free; they never had been slaves.
     This little-known story in American history gained
exposure through Steven Spielberg's 1998 movie "Amistad."  But
the film omits the role of Christians, ranging from a committee of
abolitionists to entire congregations, both White and Black, who
came to the aid of the "Amistad" captives before, during and after
their court battles.
     The momentum of the Amistad Event led to the formation
of the American Missionary Association, which over the next 100
years started schools and colleges for African Americans and took
up causes of justice and mercy for immigrants and citizens
belonging to many racial and ethnic groups.  The American
Missionary Association is now part of a United Church of Christ
mission board, and UCC organizations are among the major
sponsors of the effort to build the new "Amistad."
     Dozens of UCC people will be involved at in the March
25 launch at Mystic Seaport:

* The Rev. John H. Thomas, president of the Cleveland-based
denomination, will offer a prayer of invocation as the ceremonies
start at 11 a.m.

* The Connecticut Conference, a statewide organization of the
United Church of Christ, is inviting its 260 congregations to ring
church bells at 11 a.m.

* The entire Board of Directors of the United Church Board for
Homeland Ministries, which carries on the legacy and work of the
American Missionary Association and is a major financial
sponsor of the Amistad, will bus in from a meeting in Hartford.
Among its leaders who will take part in a drum-led procession to
the dock at 11 a.m. are the Rev. Thomas E. Dipko, a European
American from Cleveland; Frank L. Morris, Sr., an African
American layman from DeSoto, Tex.; the Rev. Hilary J. Barrett, a
pastor from Ambler, Pa.; Richard A. Hopkins, a European
American layman from Rowayton, Conn.; and John K. Leung, an
Asian American layman from Flagstaff, Ariz.

* Representatives will also be present from the Connecticut
Conference (also a financial sponsor) and its 260 local churches,
many of which date back to -- and were involved in -- the original
Amistad event.

     Even participants who are not representing the church this
Saturday have UCC connections.  Among them are two people
who will remove chains from the ship just before a bottle is
broken over the hull.  Christopher Cloud, executive director of
Amistad America, the nonprofit organization that is building and
will operate the ship, is a United Church of Christ lay person.
Warren Marr, one of the original motivators of the Amistad
project, caught the vision for the project when he was serving
with the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries in the
1970s.
     More information, consult the following Internet sites:
On the freedom schooner Amistad and its launch:

<http://www.mysticseaport.org/public/press.releases/black.history
.month.2.00.html>

<http://www.amistadamerica.org>

<http://www.ctconfucc.org/news/CONNtact0300/Amistad.html>

On the Amistad Event and the American Missionary Association
and their connection to the United Church of Christ:

<http://www.ucc.org/who/histories/chap6.htm>

<http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.jounals/amis.html>

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(EDITORS: To arrange interviews with United Church of Christ
leaders involved in the Amistad launch, either by phone or in
person, please phone one of the UCC press contacts listed at the
beginning of this release.)

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