Churches Rally with Support for Burned Sanctuaries
Episcopal News Service. June 26, 1996 [96-1498]
Nan Cobbey, Features Editor of Episcopal Life
(ENS) As news of an ongoing and ugly pattern of fire attacks on black churches has grabbed national attention, the long-percolating efforts of churches to offer assistance have erupted into a full boil.
Perhaps most dramatic of the responses is a major appeal launched by the National Council of Churches (NCC) establishing a Burned Churches Fund to repair and rebuild uninsured churches, to raise public awareness about the crimes and to start legal action against hate groups.
On June 20, seven foundations -- the Annenberg, Ford, Kellogg, MacArthur, C.S. Mott, Rockefeller, and Pew Charitable -- announced the donation of a total of $1.7 million in grants to the fund, while an eighth, the Andreas Foundation, announced its earlier grant of $1 million.
"With these contributions to the Burned Churches Fund, we respond to the spirit and resolve of the pastors and their congregations to stand against racial and religious intolerance," the seven foundations' presidents said in a written statement. "The pastors and the communities will rebuild the churches with the support we and others can help generate. The greater challenge is to combat the hatred and bigotry that produce this kind of lawlessness."
A ninth foundation, Enterprise, the largest supplier of federal low-income tax credits, also announced that it will offer $2 million in pre-construction loans, along with technical assistance in construction oversight and financial planning.
The Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC general secretary, said that as of June 20, NCC member denominations had pledged more than $500,000 toward the fund. "Never before in my history of almost 35 years serving in the ecumenical movement have such a diverse group of foundations, social agencies and faith groups come together around a common goal," she said.
Of the fund's initial budget of $4 million, $3,725,000 will support reconstruction. The remaining $275,000 will be used to focus on the underlying racism that drives the burnings through advocacy with the government, deployment of crisis teams, and public education about racism.
In early June, the board of the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief also issued a $100,000 appeal to restore "congregational life to the affected communities." The board's resolution expressed its "outrage and pain over these acts of violence, and condemned "the actions of the perpetrators and the cultures that support them."
The resolution urged the bishops of the Episcopal Church to initiate actions that result in "prayer for healing from the insidious disease of racism," as well as "financial, human and spiritual support for the specific churches affected by the violence." The board called for "effective programs that will demonstrate the Episcopal Church's Christian solidarity with the affected churches through education, affirmative community action, and full participation of its members in God's church as called in the Gospel."
Executive Council, meeting in Charleston, West Virginia, approved a resolution calling on local parishes and dioceses to take whatever steps are possible to help reconstruct the burned churches and combat racism.
In Tennessee, one southern state where 11 arsons have been reported, Bishop Robert Tharp of the Diocese of East Tennessee started contacting bishops in the South to discuss how they could all become more proactive and help in raising money for the churches. Tharp said that it was important that dioceses do more than give money, and urged building relationships with the affected congregations so that efforts to rebuild churches also help build up communities.
The diocesan convention of New York meeting June 22 voted to channel funds from local parishes through the Presiding Bishop's Fund to support the reconstruction of the Rising Star Baptist Church in Greensboro, Alabama. With the help of the New York money, St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Greensboro will be working with the Rising Star congregation to rebuild the church and fight racism.
"Our churches in the diocese wanted some way to help out, to connect with an individual church," explained Bishop Richard F. Grein of New York. "It doesn't matter that we're a thousand miles away. As neighbors we bear witness to what is going on and say that we will not tolerate it."
Dozens of parishes and individuals have written to Episcopal Life, the national newspaper of the Episcopal Church, requesting the list of the burned churches so they can offer help and prayer.
A parish in Woodbridge, Va., plans a one-week work trip to help rebuild two churches in Boligee, Alabama, St. Margaret's parishioners will join the Washington Quaker Workcamps project that continues through August 31. The Virginia Theological Seminary has recommended the work camp to all the Episcopal seminaries in the United States.
"I expect that all of our lives will be changed and touched in ways I can't even imagine," said the Rev. Sara Chandler, rector of St. Margaret's.
In Boston, black clergy have been raising money to send their youth south to rebuild churches, and Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law asked parishes to take special collections for the churches. In Indianapolis, the Consortium of Episcopal Endowed Parishes added the issue to the agenda for its annual meeting at the end of June. The conservative Christian Coalition has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of arsonists linked to the fires.
On the federal level, Rep. Jim Lightfoot, R-Iowa, introduced legislation to provide $12 million in additional resources to help federal agents solve the rash of fires. "It takes a particularly sick mind to burn a house of worship," said Lightfoot, chair of the subcommittee in charge of ATF appropriations.
- Donate to the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief by marking checks for "Burned churches." Send to the Domestic & Foreign Missionary Society, Box 12043 -- PBFWR, Newark, New Jersey 07101. All designated donations go directly to the field.
- Contribute to the Burned Churches Fund by mailing checks to: Burned Churches Fund, c/o National Council of Churches, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115. For credit card gifts, call 1-800-762-0968.
- Join the many congregations that are praying for those churches that have been burned, reciting the names as a litany. A list will be printed in the July issue of Episcopal Life.
- Sign up for a week, a weekend or a month at the Washington Quaker Workcamps project by calling 202-722-1461.