A delegation of United Methodist clergy and representatives of The General Board of Global Ministries were among the more than 1000 civic and religious leaders who participated in the June 8-10 conference to discuss progress and plans one year after the burnings of churches in America first received widespread media attention.
The three-day event in Washington, D.C. was convened by National Council of Churches General Secretary the Rev. Dr. Joan Campbell. United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert is president of NCC, the nation's leading ecumenical organization.
Returning to the nation's capitol on the anniversary of its initial 1996 meeting on the church burning crisis, NCCC opened the convocation at Shiloh Baptist Church with a rousing tribute to the life and witness of the late Rev. Dr. Mac Charles Jones, former director of the group's Burned Churches Project. Dr. Jones died last March at age 47.
Convocation participants included Vice President Al Gore, Attorney General Janet Reno, Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. of the Rainbow Coalition, and Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif).
During the gathering NCCC assessed findings of the arson task force named last year by President Bill Clinton, reviewed the progress of the NCC's Burned Church Project, and launched the second phase of the project. Phase II is called "The National Religious Partnership for Racial Justice". Many of the components of the new initiative, aimed at promoting racial justice and reconciliation, mirror objectives of the current study theme of the United Methodist Church, "Living as Christians in a Violent Society."
The NCC's Burned Church Project, of which the United Methodist Church is an ecumenical partner, has helped rebuild 90 churches, with work on 45 completed and ground breaking for the remaining 45 scheduled for this summer.
In addition, United Methodist volunteer work groups are working independently to rebuild several other burned churches, including the Gay's Hill Baptist Church in Millen, Georgia. Dedication ceremonies for the nearly completed church are scheduled for July 19 and 20.
On an optimistic not, Dr. Campbell told the gathering that the effort to rebuild the burned houses of worship "has demonstrated that people of all faiths and races can come together and support one another in the larger community of God and humanity." She cautioned, however, that reconstruction is only a first step and noted that there has been an increase in militia groups across the country.
Rev. Jackson exhorted the gathering to remember that "fear propels hate groups and the place to address this is the church." He challenged local churches, both black and white to join together in dialogue and urged white clergy to infuse their Sunday sermons with talk of social justice.
Along with many other speakers, Rev. Jackson also expressed support for President Clinton's effort to focus the nation's attention on racial healing in a planned address on race relations. He pointed out that blacks and whites share many of the same feelings of insecurity about their economic well being and said that those concerns must be addressed because "political democracy is not possible without economic democracy."
Rev. Jackson said "Blacks feel they are locked behind walls. Whites feel they are on a slippery slope downward. [Minorities] did not build that slope or put grease on it. Race is not the problem, racism is. Twenty-five percent of all African-Americans work in government. When you downsize government, outsource to corporations, cut off affirmative action, and cut welfare you also put whites behind that wall."
NCCC involvement in the church burnings dates back to March 1996 when an NCCC task force visited a burned church site in Knoxville, Tennessee, then appealed to the federal government for further investigation of that and other church burnings. In June 1996, the group brought 38 pastors of affected churches to Washington, D. C. to meet with President Clinton and other government. The President later appointed the National Church Arson Task Force.
Following the convocation, the NCCC reported that "improved investigation of attacks and prosecution of perpetrators are credited with deterring many would-be arsonists...but many communities remain badly divided by racism.... some pastors of burned churches fear for their safety."
Attacks on houses of worship continue. So far this year 20 African-American and multiracial churches, including the First United Methodist Church in Tampa, Florida, have been victimized by arson, firebombing or attempted arson. Forty-five churches were attacked during the same period last year.
NCCC also says that pastors have reported decreases in church membership because of discouragement or fear following the arson and are asking lending institutions to be more sensitive to the terror they have experienced and to allow them time to rebuild their congregations and church treasuries before demanding loan repayments.
United Methodists may contribute to the denomination's fund to help rebuild churches and affected communities through the Advance. Checks designated "Church Burnings," Advance No. 982700-1, may be donated at local United Methodist Churches.
United Methodist Response to Church Burnings and Advance Special Information
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