Rally of repentance answer to killings
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Struggling to confront a worsening homicide rate, the mayor invited pastors and citizens to don burlap sacks and ashes in a sign of biblical repentance.
Mayor Larry Langford said his “sackcloth and ashes” rally April 25 was inspired by the Book of Jonah, where residents of the ancient city of Nineveh wore rough fabric and ashes as a sign of turning away from sin. More than 1,000 people attended at a local auditorium.
So far this year 27 people have been killed in Birmingham, compared to 19 at the same time last year.
Since he took office last year, Langford has held three prayer rallies to fight crime and violence. Bibles were handed out at one of the events.
Police Chief A.C. Roper, who is also a minister, supports the repentance rally, but said law enforcement cannot stop there.
AME convention set in spite of boycott
ST. LOUIS — The African Methodist Episcopal Church will hold its convention in St. Louis this summer despite boycott pleas by local blacks unhappy with the city’s white mayor.
More than 40,000 delegates, church leaders and other A.M.E. visitors from around the world will meet July 3-11. The U.S. church, which has roots dating back to 1787, claims 2 million members in three dozen countries.
Mayor Francis Slay joined a dozen A.M.E. leaders at a news conference Tuesday to announce the convention. Slay is the target of a recall effort by a group of black city residents who also have waged a campaign to have conventions boycott the city.
They object to last year’s dismissal of the city’s first black fire chief, Sherman George.
Bishop John Richard Bryant said planners already had signed contracts committing the church, and its estimated $30 million economic impact, to St. Louis before learning of the boycott.
Besides, “in speaking with the mayor and the council of local pastors who have worked with Mayor Slay in the past, we have no regrets,” Bryant said.
