National Coalition for Burned Churches-- National Press Briefing on the Status of Church Burnings in America
Statement from Women's Division of United Methodist Church
When the clusters of churches were burned last week in Alabama, the national media paid attention.
But as members of United Methodist Women - an organization with close to one million members - we know that the burned churches caught the media's attention because they were a cluster of burnings. And this - my friends - is symptomatic of a larger issue.
As women of faith, as people of faith, we need to ask some tough questions.
We need to move away from media coverage when a group of churches burn, and ask, "what about the hundreds of others that have been burnt to the ground in the last year? What about the 1700 that have been burnt to the ground in the last ten years?"
- What communities are arsonists trying to terrorize?
- Why is this happening in the same areas of the country again and again?
- Where is the federal response and support that's supposed to be given for each one of these churches?
- Where are the resources to help the volunteer fire departments in local communities whose churches have been burnt because of hate?
- When are officials going to recognize that the Alabama burnings weren't the first burnings since the 1990s, but are symptomatic of what's been happening year after year?
As United Methodist Women, we helped with funding to begin the important work of the Center for Democratic Renewal, then the National Coalition for Burned Churches. United Methodist Women across the country have advocated with these groups for changes in laws to resource local communities dealing with church burnings, and we have collected data so NCFBC can have true figures on the incidences of church burnings across the country.
The numbers are horrifying. It's time that the federal government takes notice. The Alabama church burnings are not isolated incidences.
As an organization, we will work with these groups and others to:
- Advocate for equitable dedication of federal resources to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies so that they can investigate church arsons of all burnt churches, including the ones that are not high profile stories.
- Urge the federal government to focus on churches that have been burned but do not get national media exposure.
- Push local authorities to report the fires to federal agencies, and send the information to the National Coalition for Burned Churches for their registry and tracking (www.ncbc.org ).
- Build upon the work that United Methodist Women have been doing, including tracking hate crimes and church burnings in our local communities and we will provide data to organizations like Center for Democratic Renewal and Coalition for Burned Churches. Data like this is instrumental for advocacy, resources for local communities and support of the burned churches.
- Create a forum for church members to come together and share stories and issues around church burnings which have happened.
We trust our coalition partners and their data collection - their numbers are true and should shock us into action! We believe all people have worth and the terror against communities and their houses of worship need to stop. When one suffers, we all suffer. We are committed to advocating until all people have sanctuaries in which they are free from fear to worship the God in which they believe. I hope people of faith - no matter what faith - will join us in this effort. Amen.