Black Lives Matter Methodist

Black Lives Matter Signs at Historic Black Methodist Churches in D.C. Destroyed by Proud Boys Rioters

Dan Moran on December 16, 2020

Black Lives Matter signs were torn down from two historic Black churches and destroyed by Proud Boys rioters who came to the capital to protest what they believe is a stolen election.

Asbury United Methodist Church, founded in 1836, and Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, started in 1854, are both less than a half mile from IRD’s offices. It is particularly distressing to see racial hatred unleashed against my brothers and sisters in Christ so close by.

D.C. police are investigating both events as potential hate crimes but have declined to say whether any arrests were made in the cases.

Videos shared on Twitter show a group of Proud Boys carrying Asbury UMC’s banner and burning it in the street. (Caution: the videos contain explicit language.) The Proud Boys are a far-right and male-only political organization with a history of violence.

Asbury Senior Pastor the Rev. Ianther M. Mills shared a public statement on the website of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Mills put the act of vandalism in context, writing, “We are a resilient people who have trusted in God through slavery and the Underground Railroad, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement, and now as we face an apparent rise in white supremacy.” She later continued, “It pained me especially to see our name, Asbury, in flames. For me, it was reminiscent of cross burnings.”

Mills is certain of the confidence her church has in God, declaring, “We are assured that our church is surrounded by God’s grace and mercy,” and “We press on in the name of the Lord!”

Another video shows Proud Boys and other rioters tearing down and stomping on Metropolitan AME’s sign on church grounds, just a few feet from the front door. Despite members of the mob likely almost all being from out of town, they can be heard shouting: “Whose streets? Our streets!”

Metropolitan AME Pastor William H. Lamar IV responded with resilience and hope, tweeting, “We have not been distracted by signs, sounds, or fury for nearly two centuries. We worship. We liberate. We serve.”

Evangelicals are drawing criticism for a limited public response to the news of the vandalized Black churches. Speaking to the Associated Press (AP), Cornell William Brooks, former president of the NAACP and a member of Metropolitan AME said, “When evangelicals can speak on behalf of unborn babies, can speak on behalf of law and order when it comes to white people and white property, but are silent when it comes to banners that proclaim ‘Black lives matter,’ the moral silence is stupefying.”

The AP has reported that at least two pro-Trump evangelicals have spoken out – Johnnie Moore and the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, both of whom have acted as faith advisors for the current administration.

Hopefully a chorus of Christians from both the Right and the Left will with one voice denounce the hateful acts perpetuated against Asbury UMC and Metropolitan AME.

All churches must be protected in their right to proclaim their views and to exist in safety, from the most politically and theologically liberal to the most conservative. This includes D.C.’s historic St. John’s Episcopal, which in May was set on fire during riots in Lafayette Square following protests over police brutality and George Floyd’s death.

Throughout our country’s history, Black churches such as these have been beacons of the unique hope and love found in Jesus Christ, proclaiming the Gospel to a world that desperately needs it. They have been and continue to be foundational sources of strength and unity for communities long oppressed in the United States.

Black lives do matter. The lives of the Black men, women, and children who attend Asbury UMC and Metropolitan AME matter. The lives of the Black people who walk by these historic churches and see the three-word signs that affirm their God-given worth matter, too. These people are my neighbors, and if you are a follower of Jesus, they are yours, too.

Angry white Proud Boy rioters chanted hatred for Antifa as they burned Asbury’s sign, but their actions throughout this year show hate for any who disagree with them. Their actions demonstrate deliberate disdain for Black people and Black churches. They disregard the “law and order” that they claim to defend, instead breaking the law and replacing order with chaos and fear. The few guilty individuals involved Saturday represent widespread injustice perpetrated against Black people in the U.S., including a long history of continued attacks upon Black churches.

In this joyous time of Advent anticipation for Christ’s coming, we have an opportunity to share the good news that Jesus came to offer salvation to all, and that everyone has equal worth in His eyes. When Christians boldly speak up against hate and division, we live out Gospel truths. If we can remember the immeasurable grace we have already been given through the Cross, we can share it with anyone and bring hope to a hurting world.

  1. Comment by Douglas E Ehrhardt on December 16, 2020 at 8:31 pm

    Proud boys are clowns. Black Lives Matter are evil . Any so called church that supports Communist racists is wicked.

  2. Comment by Joe M on December 16, 2020 at 10:59 pm

    When white evangelicals decry this, they will have credibility.

    When black churches decry the riots, they will have credibility.

    Waiting for both.

  3. Comment by David Miller on December 17, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    Ripping the sign down was poor judgement but isn’t it free speech? I’ve not heard black or liberal churches condemn BLM arson and looting. We have gotten into a bad place.

  4. Comment by Dan W on December 17, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    The real pandemic of 2020 has been hate and violence fueled by lies and a failure of leadership. I’m looking at you UMC.

  5. Comment by Star Tripper on December 18, 2020 at 1:30 pm

    Hmmm….looks like a mostly peaceful protest according to the latest Newspeak dictionary.

  6. Comment by Brother Thom on December 18, 2020 at 6:36 pm

    I condemn all forms of hatred of our brothers and sisters, but I (and we) would be remiss to not identify Black Lives Matter as the far-left radical hate group that it is.  BLM has been the catalyst for riots, looting, arson, assault, and in several cases in the pacific northwest murder.  I challenge you to find one press release or statement by BLM condemning those actions.  

    This post by Dan Moran seems to play into the United Methodist Chirches News position that everyone is a victim of something.  Let’s be fair if conservative UMC’s put up Proud Boy banners in front of their churches they would rightly be subject to attack for those actions.  Again I don’t condone that, and I do condemn those types of actions.  But when black churches openly support a radical left movement such as BLM, they too open themselves to this type of hate.

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