Farewell for Task Force on Central America Is Set : Activism: Declining contributions and waning interest are cited as reasons for the closure.

Declining contributions from foundations and religious denominations and waning interest in Central America is forcing the closure of the Southern California Ecumenical Council’s Interfaith Task Force on Central America.

Fourteen years after it was born in the throes of bloodshed, human rights abuses and the assassination of Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, the task force will hold a farewell dinner Oct. 16.

“It’s like somebody died within our community and I’m the widow,” task force Executive Director Mary Brent Wehrli said recently.

During its heyday, the task force was involved in the sanctuary movement in which churches and others offered sanctuary to refugees from Central America, many of them in the United States illegally.

Its task was to be “a voice for the voiceless” by connecting the refugees with Southern California churches and synagogues. The task force was also a vocal opponent of U.S. military intervention in Central America.

But now the task force is disbanding.

“We haven’t outlived our usefulness,” Wehrli said. “It’s that the focus of attention is no longer on Central America. And tremendous, pressing domestic issues have engulfed churches and other agencies. That is where the focus is.”

Wehrli said issues of the homeless, inadequate health care, poor public education and urban violence in America have moved to the top of church agendas. “It makes it very difficult to look beyond our community to the still-pressing needs of Central America,” she said.

The Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr. of Holman United Methodist Church and a member of the task force advisory council, said there are other reasons for closing the task force. He said the Central American community in Southern California is stronger now. He also said in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, inner-city churches have stepped up their outreach and spending for urban ministries.

Still, Lawson said he regretted the decision to dissolve the task force, which operates on a $60,000 annual budget from a modest office near Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street. “The Central American situation is not now more stable or less vulnerable or dangerous. The people are still being killed and the failure of American policies are still a central source of the disorders.”

Bishop Frederick H. Borsch of Los Angeles, another prime mover behind the task force, said he expected the group’s efforts to continue in other ways.

“I am grateful for the many contributions the task force has made to our understanding of the problems of injustice and suffering in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, and the ways we have been able to offer assistance in those countries and to refugees from war and oppression,” Borsch said.

Principal speaker at the Oct. 16 farewell dinner will be author and professor of religion and theology Robert McAfee Brown. His topic is “The Prophetic Call for This Moment.” There will be a 6 p.m. reception and dinner at 6:30 p.m. The farewell party will be held at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Ave., Pasadena. A donation of $10 to $30 is requested, but no one will be turned away.