CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were among those on the July 22-24 "Journey Against Hate" to combat the rise of hate groups in America. A group of religious and civic leaders traveled through Illinois and Indiana, following the path Benjamin Nathaniel Smith took when he allegedly killed two people and wounded nine in a Fourth of July weekend shooting rampage.
Among the 16-member group was Nancy Tegtmeier, a member of Zion Lutheran Church, Farmersville, Ill., and associate director of the Illinois Council of Churches (ICC).
All three ELCA synods in Illinois -- Metropolitan Chicago, Northern Illinois and Central/Southern Illinois -- are ICC members. The ELCA was a co-sponsor of "Journey Against Hate."
Tegtmeier helped organize the event and rallies held at cities along the route. More than 500 people attended rallies, news conferences and prayer vigils in Skokie, Peoria, Springfield, Decatur and Champaign-Urbana, Ill., and Bloomington, Ind.
"We have to stop the hate and the racism that is so pervasive in this country," said Tegtmeier. "People of faith have to stand up, especially when racism is done in the name of the church," she said.
Tegtmeier referred to the World Church of the Creator, the white supremacist group of which Smith had been a member before he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The journey included a trip to the East Peoria, Ill., home of Matthew Hale, leader of the World Church of the Creator.
As Hale sat on the front porch of his home, caravan members prayed for God to "change his heart."
"It was a powerful experience to stand in prayer in front of Matt Hale's home," Tegtmeier said. "It was the right thing to do," she said.
The Rev. Karen Norman Rees led a prayer at a service in Peoria. Norman Rees, an ELCA chaplain at George A. Zeller Mental Health Center, Peoria, Ill., said a march was held before the prayer vigil.
The act of speaking out against hate crimes is something "everyone needs to be involved in," she said.
The Rev. John S. Setterlund, St. Andrew Lutheran Church, the student congregation at the University of Illinois, Champaign, attended the rally in that city "partly out of curiosity." Setterlund said the event was a way to counteract the negativity of hate and racism.
"It's a constructive way to come together and deal with things that frighten us," he said.
Critics of the "Journey Against Hate" argue that visits to the scenes of Smith's violence give hate groups unnecessary publicity.
"It was not to give publicity, but to stand in solidarity with victims," Tegtmeier said.
The amount of e-mail responses and phone calls she has received in positive response to the march were overwhelming, Tegtmeier said.
The "Journey Against Hate" was the first of its kind, she said.
"This was the first, but it's not going to be the last," Tegtmeier said.
[*Lisa Smith is a senior at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. This
summer, she is an intern with ELCA News and Information.]
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
