Contact: Joretta Purdue (Release # 292) June 12, 1996
WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- United Methodist response to the continuing destruction of predominantly African-American churches in the South has been intense and constructive.
As the number of these arsons continued to climb, the head of the denomination's Commission on Religion and Race decried the reluctance of some people to admit that "these acts of terrorism have racial overtones and undertones."
In a statement issued June 10, Barbara Thompson, general secretary of the commission, likened combating racism to the Greek myth of the hydra, in which two heads would grow when one was cut off.
"We challenge every local church pastor of every denomination to teach and preach that racism is more than just an issue of civil rights, but that it is a profoundly theological issue," Thompson said. "It is a sin because it denies the creative genius of God."
Bishop William Grove, president of the Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, and the Rev. Bruce Robbins, its general secretary, issued a joint statement that called the church burnings "horrible crimes."
"The church members have fought against racism and prejudice throughout the years, and today they continue to suffer from persecution and hatred," they observed. "We must pray and work to prevent further violence."
Grove and Robbins said they are thankful for the strength and faithful witness of these church communities. "We will do all we can to stand with these church people today and look forward to a day when racism is eliminated from society," they pledged.
The Rev. Walter L. Kimbrough, vice president of the board of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, Inc. (BMCR), the denomination's black caucus, said that violent crime is everywhere. "The victims are all of us regardless of our station in life." Everyone pays the price of these criminal acts, he said.
Kimbrough expressed what he called BMCR's "righteous indignation [about] the dastardly acts of violence levied upon our sacred places of worship."
Burning worship centers, he said, has left the African- American community saddened and angry because "these are the very places where we find a ray of hope even when hope unborn had died." He also appealed to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to proceed diligently in the apprehension and prosecution of the people responsible for these criminal acts.
The denomination's Board of Church and Society has been involved for years with the Center for Democratic Renewal that monitors hate groups, according to Hilary Shelton, a board staff member who sits on the center's board of directors.
The center had recorded more than 40 church bombings by May of this year, Shelton noted. He accompanied the pastors and officials of the National Council of Churches on visits with Reno and other federal officials here June 9 and 10.
On June 11, he watched as the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives approved the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 and forwarded it for consideration by the full House. This act would make it easier for federal authorities to become involved in such investigations, Shelton explained.
"It is very important that we have people who are extremely technologically proficient doing the investigations," Shelton said, adding that the Justice Department can bring technological resources and research capabilities to the field.
Hate groups, he reported, are sharing both the technology and strategies for eluding apprehension for these crimes through the internet.
Shelton noted that most, but not all, of the burnings have occurred in isolated rural locations and that local sheriff's departments, although quite competent, often are understaffed.
"Both the Justice Department and the Treasury Department have been very actively involved and seem to be extremely committed to bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to justice," Shelton commented. "They worked very closely with the black churches that were burned and with the mainline denomination churches who have been extremely concerned."
In late May the South Carolina Annual Conference created a fund to help rebuild churches and the NCC has announced the establishment of "Burned Churches Fund" for the same purpose.
In Thompson's statement -- titled "How Long, O Lord, How Long?" -- she outlined seven "minimal steps to combat racism" that local churches could do.
They included incorporating lessons about the sin of racism and on construction of an inclusive faith community into vacation Bible school; studying When Hate Groups Come to Town: a Handbook of Effective Community Responses, sold by the Center for Democratic Renewal in Atlanta; and financial contributions to funds established to assist the churches.
Other steps suggested by Thompson include the following actions:
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