Churches Hear Cry of Inner City : Community: Religious leaders have responded to L.A. riots with a variety of programs. But they say government, private industry must do more.

The Rev. Oscar Owens vividly remembers the first signs that something was wrong last year. In the immediate wake of the not-guilty verdicts in the first Rodney G. King beating trial, a mass of human rage boiled down Crenshaw Boulevard toward his West Angeles Church of God in Christ.

“We began to hear the sudden, erratic screeches of car tires on Crenshaw, the strained yells of anger, the sound of breaking glass and explosions,” recalled Owens, a young associate pastor. “Someone ran into the building, yelling, ‘We should get out!”’

In the Mid-Wilshire district, Rabbi Harvey J. Fields stood before 350 teen-agers of various ethnic and religious backgrounds. They were gathered in the sanctuary of Wilshire Boulevard Temple for a scheduled Seder--a Jewish feast commemorating the exodus of the Jews from bondage in Egypt.

“I know that the city is coming apart,” Fields said he was thinking as he looked into the confused and frightened faces. “It dawned on me in that moment that . . . somehow the religious community had to get more deeply involved in turning this city around.”

In the 13 months since the riots resulted in at least 53 deaths and $1 billion in property damage, church and synagogue officials say they have never been more involved in efforts to meet the spiritual and economic needs of poor people in the city.

At least $26 million has been pledged or raised for post-riot relief by religious groups from their members, as well as from government agencies and private industry.

Ground has been broken for low-income housing and youth shelters. Church-backed credit unions and entrepreneurial assistance programs are opening to make consumer credit and business expertise more available to hard-pressed inner-city residents. There are food giveaways and prayer vigils, crisis counseling and pulpit exchanges. Cooperation among Christians, Jews and Muslims has been unparalleled, clergy members say.

On the political front, religious leaders led by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony proved formidable. Clerics joined with neighborhood associations and, over opposition from Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, wrested $5.4 million in commitments for an untested anti-gang program from recession-strained city and county budgets.

But religious leaders say they remain troubled that underlying causes of the unrest--unemployment, deeply embedded racism, deteriorating public schools, crime and a lack of affordable housing-continue to gnaw at the soul and substance of the city.

They worry that their efforts only touch the surface. Any real success, they say, must rely heavily on government and private industry efforts.

With the exception of some politicians, clergy members charge that the overall response from City Hall to the White House in addressing systemic problems such as poverty and unemployment has been minimal.

“I’m not only upset by it,” Fields said, “but I think until the federal government and this Administration begins to set an urban agenda, we are all going to be in deep trouble.”

He said that Bush Administration promises of $130 million in federal aid have gone unfilled. At the local level, the city and county have yet to put their checks in the mail for the Hope in Youth program. Backers had counted on receiving the money in March. The delay has been linked to budgetary problems and bureaucratic holdups, and program officials hope to receive the money within the next month.

In Washington, a spokesman for Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown said the Clinton Administration is trying to account for federal aid disbursed to Los Angeles as well as what is planned. But figures are not expected until the end of summer.

“I do know that in our visits out there, there have been complaints of money that just hasn’t been available,” spokesman Jim Desler said.

Organized religion has also come in for criticism. Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said denominations have failed to develop what he calls an urban renewal theology.

“The revitalization and rebuild agenda is more in line with trying to repair the image of the city . . . but relatively little attention (has been paid) to the soul of the city that needs to be saved,” said Ridley-Thomas, an adjunct professor at the School of Theology at Claremont. “(The riots) should have forced . . . some of the most serious reflection and action of our time--and I’ve yet to see that happen.”

Barry Sanders, who leads the task force on racial harmony for RLA, formerly called Rebuild L.A., said religious leaders could do much more to inform their congregations of the plight of the inner city and the opportunities for doing something about it.

“After all, the church stands out there with the schools as the fastest, most complete access to the grass roots of the community,” Sanders said.

But some clergy say they are fighting a rear-guard action against apathy and latent racism within their congregations.

Some congregations and many individuals remain unflagging in their commitment to the inner city, but religious leaders worry that overall interest is waning, especially in suburban congregations.

“We’ve done our immediate response and act like the problem’s gone away. The problems are overwhelming there,” said the Rev. Maria Davis-Hanlin, associate minister of Northridge United Methodist Church.

Bishop Herbert Childstrom of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said that the 5.2-million member, predominantly white denomination raised far more money for the victims of Hurricane Andrew in Florida than for those left homeless and jobless by the Los Angeles riots.

Despite the criticism, many in the faith community believe their impact on the principalities and powers of the secular city has been felt.

“I think (that) without the response of the faith communities we would not have seen the kind of progress that has been demonstrated,” said the Rev. Emory C. Campbell, executive minister of American Baptist Churches of Los Angeles.

Long involved in the poorest areas of the city, churches and synagogues were a touchstone of credibility, trust and stability in a city rent by racial divisions and despair.

In the immediate aftermath of the riots, they pulled off a logistics miracle, feeding thousands of people daily who had lost jobs or could not buy groceries because their neighborhood stores had been burned. There was clothing for the needy, solace for the injured and bereaved and emergency relocation assistance. Jewish synagogues formed sister congregation relationships with African-American Baptist churches. White Protestant churches in the suburbs dispatched food, clothing, money and volunteers to the inner city.

In public and parochial schools, efforts are being stepped up to foster racial understanding and dialogue among students. Available instructional materials have been catalogued by the Interfaith Coalition to Heal Los Angeles, which represents 13 Christian, Jewish and Muslim denominations in Los Angeles. Mahony directed all Catholic schools in the archdiocese of Los Angeles to step up such instruction.

Some programs were operating or planned before the 1992 unrest. Afterward, efforts were redoubled. Other programs rose out of the fire and ashes of the civil upheaval.

Within months of the riots, religious leaders led by Fields organized a dramatic “Hands Across L.A.” demonstration. An estimated 15,000 people formed a miles-long human chain in an act of solidarity.

In what many see as an innovative urban ministry for the future, churches are setting people up in business. The most ambitious program is sponsored by the First African Methodist Episcopal Church led by the Rev. Cecil Murray.

Known as the Los Angeles Renaissance Program, it includes small-business loans up to $20,000. A professional assistance team of accountants, lawyers and marketing and sales experts acts as mentors to loan recipients. And it provides a full-service information, computer and consulting center, plus training. The program was made possible, in large part, by $1.3 million in grants from the Walt Disney Co. and Arco.

“It’s the church community that really sees what the problem is. We know what must be done. And if we don’t do what must be done, we’ll be done,” program Executive Director Mark Whitlock said.

There have been others, such as the New City Parish launched by four congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to prepare unemployed and underemployed members to go into janitorial businesses for themselves.

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles plans to open a community development credit union serving the inner city this fall. Capitalized with an initial $1 million, it will make small business and personal loans.

Such programs are deemed of major importance to the African-American community. A two-year nationwide study of 60 African-American businesses found that only two were able to borrow start-up or expansion money from banks during their first five years in business.

“The main reason that the African-American church is so involved in such a wide variety of areas is that mainstream institutions--government and banking in particular--have not been responsive to the needs of African-Americans,” said Michael D. Woodard, a sociologist and visiting African-American studies scholar at UCLA who conducted the study.

But no one is fooling themselves that churches and synagogues can replace the authority and resources of government and private industry in rebuilding a city and restoring the hope of its residents.

“We’re still in the midst of a crisis,” Fields said. “We have not solved the systemic issues that made for this crisis. These are not simply issues of just Los Angeles. Tragically, they are issues for every urban area in America.”