Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel met with faith leaders in an effort to garner their support and input in the reforms he plans to institute once he takes over as leader of the city.
Emanuel
met behind closed doors March 9 at 35th St. Cafe restaurant, 1735 W. 35th St.,
with dozens of clergy representing a multi-cultural mix of faith leaders, but
most of them were African American.
The mayor-elect
emerged from the confab with optimism and a wealth of ideas for implementing
his reform agenda and having the faith leaders be a part of it, he said at the
press conference that immediately followed at the restaurant.
“(It was)
a very good discussion about they are more than just pastors in their
respective congregations and churches, they are leaders in their community,”
Emanuel said. Revs. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church, Wayne Gordon of
Lawndale Community Church and Stephen Thurston of New Covenant Missionary
Baptist Church were among the ministers present at the meeting.
The
clergy are leaders in “communities that need jobs and economic growth, that
need schools where congregants can send their kids to get a quality education,
and public safety,” said the former congressman and White House chief of staff.
Issues like that “is where I am going to steady my focus.”
Though
the issues are ones that the faith leaders say their respective churches, in
their own ways, have tried to address, several of them said it was good to have
the mayor-elect meet with them to discuss them further. Concerns for jobs,
public education, public safety and violence are more community-wide and touch
congregations all over the city, Emanuel and the clergy agreed collectively.
Thurston,
whose church at 740 E. 77th St. is located near where a police officer was
gunned down outside of his home last year, hopes Emanuel can use his mayoral
pulpit and his connections in Washington to not only talk about programs but bring
money to the churches and communities to help fund them.
Discussion
of education and after school programs “is not new for many of our churches,”
Thurston told the Defender. “They are open and they are ready to provide a
safety net for our children. We believe that will cut down on a lot of the
violence.”
But with
social service programs – community ones and, specifically, ones focused on
youth – in the crosshairs of state and federal cuts, faith leaders agreed that
money is an issue.
“Every
church in this city is struggling as it relates to finance. Income is down
across the board in our churches,” Thurston pointed out. He said churches are
still reaching out to help, despite the decreases in the offering plates but
the pastor hopes money can be found to help more.
“It was
implied, it wasn’t guaranteed” at the meeting that money would be made
available for haven and other programs, especially for youth, Thurston said.
Last
year, 435 people were victims of homicide in Chicago. The number included four
police officers, one of who was shot with his own gun outside of a police
station in the Englewood community. Violence and public safety heads Emanuel’s
priority list of issues to tackle when he takes the helm of the city that
boasts a police department Emanuel previously called “demoralized.”
Emanuel
is hoping the clergy, some of whom lead churches in some of the city’s toughest
neighborhoods, will have an “interest in helping our city turn its page and
look to the future and deal with the issues that we face.”
Rev.
Tyron told the Defender he was pleased, for the most part, with the discussion
Emanuel brought to Wednesday’s meeting.
“I came
away with a sincere mayor who is committed to hearing the voices from the faith
community, who is committed to implementing some of the programs recommended by
the faith community, serious about public education … public safety … programs
to represent the entire community,” the pastor of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in
the Morgan Park community said.
But just
as in the crime-ridden and economically starved area near where his church is
located, 1257 W. 111th St., Crider acknowledged, “we’ve got some real, real
issues.”
Rev.
Leonard Deville remembers when faith leaders were called upon to work directly
with the Chicago Police Department to provide spiritual and other support. He
told the Defender that at the meeting Emanuel was apprised of that now-defunct
program.
“Preachers
would come in and talk to police officials about police issues,” said Deville, pastor
of Alpha Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 6701 S. Emerald. “It seemed to
help.”
The
program was a collaboration started by the late former police Supt. Fred Rice
that utilized faith leaders to help forge relationships with communities,
Thurston, who was among the participants in the program, explained. “Many of us
as pastors were there to help integrate police into the communities but also
provide some spiritual resolve in relation to many of the things that happened
in our community.”
The preachers
couldn’t pinpoint exactly what happened to the program and why it just ceased
to exist. But Emanuel said he might be interested in reviving the program in
some way, especially since he wants clergy to have a relationship with the
police department on a “regular and interactive basis.”
“That is
something I want to look into,” Emanuel said at the press conference.
This
meeting and others Emanuel has held since his Feb. 22 win, as well as his
assistance in several mayoral runoffs are part of the mayor-elect’s efforts to
push his reform agenda.
“We now
have a future to seize for the city and our residents to make sure Chicago is
the most economically and educationally competitive city in the country” he
said.
Faith
leaders like Crider who say they’ve gotten handshake and lip service promises
from politicians in the past remain cautious of the mayor-elect’s plans, even
as they praise him for getting clergy around the table.
“Only
time will tell. We’ve heard on many occasions from many politicians. But I felt
good about today,” Crider said.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
