(Distributed by the General Board of Global Ministries. The United Methodist Church June 18, 1996 With Continuing Updates)
June 19, 1996
Nearly 40 fires of suspicious origin at black churches in the last 18 months, including the January 1, 1995, fire at the Bluff Road United Methodist Church in Columbia, S. C., on Wednesday, June 12.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which is investigating the fires, has closed five of the cases, ruling that those five fires were caused by something other than arson. The cause of the Bluff Road U.M.C. fire was determined to be electrical. However, the fire remains on a list of findings considered "possibly suspect" by the Atlanta-based Center for democratic Renewal.
President Clinton has denounced the fires in speeches and in his radio address. He visited the Mt. Zion AME church in Greelyville, S.C. on Wednesday, June 12.
The South Carolina Conference has established a statewide fund through the Ethnic Local Church Concerns Committee (ELCC) to help distribute money to churches destroyed by arson.
The South Carolina Conference is urging people of all faiths in the state to worship on the weekend of June 29-30 in a "Sabbath of Support" for congregations that have lost their churches to arson.
The National Council of Churches has begun a campaign to raise $2 million to rebuild churches destroyed by arson.
The General Board of Global Ministries has established an Advance for donations: Code #982700-1.
The Women's Division approved a $5,000 grant to the Center for Constitutional Rights for the emergency legal team that is pursuing justice in the fire bombings of the Black churches.
Federal officials have instituted a telephone hotline for
tips about the arsons. The nationwide number is (888) ATF-FIRE (283-3473)
Dear Fellow United Methodists:
The burnings of 35 predominantly black houses of worship over the past eighteen months presents a challenge for United Methodists and all people of faith. Only one United Methodist church, Pine Bluff U.M.C. in Columbia, South Carolina, has been burned--the victimized churches have been predominantly Baptist. But as United Methodists and children of God we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in any church of any denomination that has been the target of a racial attack.
This is not a time to adopt a watch and wait posture. The call to mission is urgent because the crisis of spirit in our communities, as evidenced by these vicious attacks on houses of worship, demands a swift and sure response.
In the United Methodist tradition of participation in God's mission, I am asking all of you to take a leadership position during these troubling times by opening up dialogues between United Methodists and people of other faiths to address this crisis.
Acts of racial hatred and violence strike at the very foundation of our dignity and our humanity. Our response must contain the full measure of our faith and of our commitment as United Methodists.
Because GBGM is committed to involving congregations and annual conferences in mission we will be in continuing consultation with the South Carolina Conference to support their efforts and to work with them to initiate other action.
It is an ominous sign that these attacks have been going on for 18 months but it is only in recent weeks that any serious federal investigation has begun. Our nation has a dark history of religious institutions--especially black ones--being targeted for violence by people who see them as symbols of progress being made.
In this instance, there have been suggestions that the church burnings are designed to interfere with voter registration efforts in the south. If that is so, then Global Ministries will also assist in organizing teams of volunteers for voter registration efforts in the affected communities.
John McCullough, who heads up our Mission Personnel Resources Program Department, has assured me that we are prepared to assemble a team of volunteers to assist in any way necessary.
John says, "As is always the case when good people step forward to respond to disaster, these volunteers will dedicate their time, energy, talent and resources to help rebuild the churches destroyed in the last 18 months, to protect other churches from vandalism, and to do whatever is necessary to help their congregations recover from this devastation."
Most of you already are familiar with our Hate and Violence Project, which grew out of a leadership conference called last year to focus on the militia and other organized hate groups. We see the project as an ideal vehicle through which to address the crisis of spirit evidenced by these church burning and we will be making that resource available to you.
Please read on. There is more information about the steps GBGM is taking to respond to the burnings of houses of worship, resources to help you get involved, and suggestions for ways in which United Methodists should respond.
I am confident that all of you will join in promoting unity through witness and service.
Yours in faith,
Dr. Randolph Nugent
General Secretary
Board of Global Ministries
As United Methodists we have an opportunity and an obligation to take a leadership role in efforts to find ways to bridge the divide that has fostered the climate for the hateful acts of racism we now are witnessing. We would urge all of our congregations to do go beyond mere participation in the "Sabbath of Support" worship services.
The Board of Global Ministries has established an Advance for donations:
General Advance Program
Partners in Congregational Development
Code #982700-1.
(Please specify "Black Church Burnings" on your check.)
Donations from the will be used to help in the rebuilding of churches, arming of churches with security systems and to support church watch patrols in areas where vulnerable churches are located.
Global Ministries has appealed to Bishop Felton E. May to urge that the area of the burnings be declared a Shalom Zone so that churches there can work with others in the community toward addressing the racism and other problems that created the climate in which this arson and vandalism is occurring.
Global Ministries will organize and deploy Volunteers in Mission to assist in rebuilding burned houses of worship, patrolling areas where vulnerable buildings are located, and in whatever other capacity they are needed.
In accordance with the commitment of GBGM to participate with the annual conferences in enabling mission, Global Ministries will make a substantial contribution to the fund established by Bishop Robert H. Spain and the South Carolina Annual Conference to help distribute money to churches damaged or destroyed by arson.
In March 1996, the Women's Division voiced its abhorrence of these acts and approved a grant to the Center for Constitutional Rights for the emergency legal team that has been established to pursue justice in the fire bombings of the Black churches. The division continues to resource United Methodist Women to understand the dangers of hate groups.
The GBGM program called "Ministry in the Midst of Hate and Violence" now will include a focus on the black church burnings. Telephone (212) 870-3772 or fax (212) 870-3932.
GBGM's Church Burnings Home Page: http://gbgm-umc.org/advance/Church-Burnings/
Approved by the Women's Division March 1996
That the Women's Division approve a grant in the amount of $5,000 to the Center for Constitutional Rights for the emergency legal team that has been established to pursue justice in the fire bombings of the Black Churches.
(Material Presented at the March 1996 Meeting)
For the past three years, fires in at least 23 Black Churches were blamed on arson. Nineteen of those church fires have occurred since January 1995. In the past two months alone there were 7 fire bombings in the rural South; the states primarily affected are Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Georgia. The most recent fire bombing occurred on February 29, 1996 in Tyler, Alabama. Two predominantly White congregations with Black members also were bombed.
These incidents are painfully reminiscent of the civil rights movement of the 1960's when several Black churches in the south were burned. Four young Black girls were killed in September 1963 when a Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was firebombed.
Last summer, the Women's Division conducted a plenary in each of the Regional Schools on "Hate Groups". We re-committed ourselves to assist United Methodist Women to understand the danger of hate groups and to be witnesses by becoming involved in combating hate crimes.
The Women's Division join several religious and secular organization in voicing our abhorrence of these acts and our concern for the well being of the Black community.
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