Urban Episcopalians Convene around Anti-Violence Theme
Jeff Walton
March 3, 2010
This is one of a series of three articles about the 30th annual Episcopal Urban Caucus Assembly. To read about the Episcopal Peace Fellowship luncheon and non-union contractor controversy at the Episcopal Church Center, click here. To read about the overall conference, click here.
Concerned about gun violence and sharing stories of youth killed in their communities, an assembly of Episcopal laity and clergy gathered in Chicago last week. Meeting under the theme “Anti-Violence: Keeping our Kids Alive,” the Episcopal Urban Caucus visited the south side of Chicago and heard from program officials in anti-gang and anti-gun programs.
The conference came a week before U.S. Supreme Court justices were scheduled to hear a challenge to Chicago’s handgun ban. The legal challenge is being made by Chicago residents who say they need guns to protect themselves from armed thugs. Chicago police and prosecutors support the existing ban, saying it gives them a legal basis for confronting gang members and drug dealers.
Participants were originally scheduled to hear from controversial Roman Catholic clergyman Michael Pfleger, rector of St. Sabina’s parish in the south side of Chicago. Due to miscommunication, Pfleger did not address the assembly, but instead was represented by Michael Byrd of S.O.S. Children’s Village, a parishioner of St. Sabina’s, and Maureen Bismark, Chair of the Peace and Justice Committee for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.
“[Pfleger] has broken almost every Roman Catholic rule there is,” Bismark declared, recounting the killing of Pfleger’s foster son in gang crossfire and Pfleger’s controversial efforts in south side Chicago.
“Our children are failing to see an option of success,” Byrd said, describing urban youth that were “living in the now, not for the future.”
Byrd described an urban landscape plagued by images of drinking and smoking, “tearing at the fabric of your mentality as a young child.” The St. Sabina’s parishioner asserted that the community needed a church, not a child welfare agency.
“Our children are lost, our families are struggling, our urban communities are disillusioned,” Byrd said. “The church needs you to go out into the community and be a presence.”
Byrd said that faith changes a community, recounting successful community prayer campaigns to close a hotel known for prostitution and a car wash that was a front for drug sales. Byrd’s program, S.O.S. Children’s Village, was one of two sites that caucus members visited during the assembly. The Chicago branch of the program offers professional foster parents who live in a community of other foster and biological families. The program assists young mothers in becoming self-sufficient and also helps older teens transitioning out of foster care and into independent living.
Additionally, the Episcopal group visited the Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church in south side Chicago, home to a youth anti-violence program. The Rev. Dr. Leon D. Finney, Jr., spoke about his calling to minister to an economically depressed neighborhood.
Caucus members enthusiastically responded as Finney praised the Great Society policies of President Lyndon Johnson. The pastor recounted his early work as a community organizer on the staff of self-described radical Saul Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation, and more recently his work as Volunteer Field Organizer/Coordinator for then-Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in Indiana.
Multiple workshops at the assembly addressed concerns about gun violence, with several speakers calling for what they termed “common sense” gun laws. Presentations were given by the Illinois Council to End Gun Violence and the group Cease Fire. Cease Fire seeks to reduce gun violence by deploying trained street violence interrupters and outreach staff. A panel of interrupters answered questions about street life and described their work on the streets of Chicago’s Auburn-Gresham neighborhood, defusing hostile situations during peak hours of violent activity.