Title: Lutherans Join NCC Response to Church Burnings ELCA NEWS SERVICE June 13, 1996 LUTHERANS JOIN NCC RESPONSE TO CHURCH BURNINGS 96-15-44-FI CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's response to the firebombing of African-American churches is being coordinated through the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC) of which the ELCA is a member. Gaylord Thomas, ELCA director for community development services, is assigned to work with the NCC. "I support the action of our South Carolina Synod in opposing these 'acts of hatred and destruction' and vowing to 'improve the climate of racial and ethnic relationships within our congregations and their surrounding communities,'" said ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson. A similar resolution from the ELCA's New England Synod was hand-delivered June 9 to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. "These incidents do not seem to be investigated," it said. The synod expressed "its sorrow and sympathy to the Christians whose churches may have been destroyed by felonious actions." The ELCA Domestic Disaster Response Fund has already designated $10,000 to assist the NCC and Church World Service in its investigation of the fires and in helping to rebuild damaged churches. Thomas is devoting one-third of his time over the next six months. The ELCA Division for Church in Society is paying his travel expenses. The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC general secretary, and United Methodist Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, NCC president, testified May 21 before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on the attacks of churches. "It is our contention," they said, "that these are not isolated, random incidents bur rather pieces in a pattern of hate crimes that have been under-reported by the media and overlooked by law enforcement. It is a sad state of affairs that in 1996 this nation is quietly and, in many cases, unwittingly accepting the racist destruction of houses of worship." They came to these conclusions after conducting investigations into church fires in several Southern states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. More than 20 churches were burned since January 1996, and more than 55 were vandalized since January 1990. "Our investigations have uncovered striking similarities in these incidents -- parallels that constitute a pattern of abuses -- including the use of Molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices, the spray painting of racist graffiti, the targeting of churches with a history of strong advocacy for African American rights, and racist notes and letters left in the mailboxes of pastors," said Campbell and Talbert. "Many churches were attacked on or around January 15, Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- five of those in 1996 and five in 1995." The NCC/Church World Service has a toll-free phone number people can call for a regularly updated recording -- 800-456-1310. That recording will give volunteer information when it's available. The ELCA's South Carolina Synod passed the resolution to which Bishop Anderson referred during its annual assembly June 7-9 in Greenville, S.C. The assembly offered "prayers of encouragement and support" for the congregations most directly affect by the vandalism. The New England Synod Assembly was held June 6-8 in Sturbridge, Mass. When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to survivors of major disasters including the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include: ELCA Disaster Response Fund P.O. Box 71764 Chicago, IL 60694-1764 For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service, (312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956