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Religion

Interfaith coalition works for its revival

A grass roots organization that works for community action hopes to gain new members to carry on its work.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published August 17, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - For a while during the past decade, an interfaith, multiracial St. Petersburg group regularly led antidrug marches, tackled the School Board and confronted major lending institutions.

Back then its membership consisted of almost 40 congregations, but things gradually changed for Congregations United for Community Action, or CUCA.

Grant money that helped provide office space and staff ran low.

A few stalwart lay supporters and clergy moved to jobs out of town, like founding members the Rev. Earl Smith of Lakeview Presbyterian Church and the Rev. Bill Mason of St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Widely known leaders died, among them Bishop John Copeland of Macedonia Free Will Baptist Church; the Rev. M. Mason Walker, former pastor of Moore's Chapel A.M.E.; Perkins Shelton, a prominent civil rights activist; and, most recently, Naomi McCord of the St. Petersburg Baha'i Center.

Membership is down to about 10 congregations, but there is a determination to revive the grass roots group. A reunion and membership drive are being held Saturday. CUCA co-chair Harvey Morgenstein is hopeful.

"Quite a few churches say they are coming," he said.

Morgenstein, a member of Temple Beth-El, said the revived CUCA wants to focus on issues in Midtown, particularly education and housing.

Though membership has dwindled in recent years, the organization has persevered in some form, said Jim Barrens, a former paid organizer for the group and now executive director of the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at Saint Leo University.

These days CUCA works mostly with other social action groups, Barrens said. It also organizes the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. interfaith service.

In its heyday, CUCA helped to revitalize Lakeview Park - since renamed Dell Holmes Park - along Lake Maggiore's north shore. It teamed up with the neighborhood association, the parks department and police to chase out drug dealers and clean up the area.

The group also worked for reforms within the St. Petersburg Police Department and proposed changes to the Pinellas school district's suspension policies, Barrens said. It challenged local banks to issue mortgages in poor areas and initiated cultural diversity workshops. CUCA also played a conciliatory role in the wake of the 1996 disturbances that erupted the night of Oct. 24, after a black motorist was shot and killed by police.

"We started to work on that at 1 a.m.," Barrens recollected. "We had a statement in the morning and a press conference with all the local clergy that afternoon at Bethel Community Baptist Church. We had an organization in place, with people that trusted each other."

The organization traces its roots to March 3, 1992, when religious leaders from 12 denominations joined forces. It got its official start a year later with 35 congregations. Committees to address drugs, crime, education, race and denomination relationships, economic development, jobs and housing were created at the time.

In the past year, another grass roots group, FAST, an acronym for Faith and Action for Strength Together, has begun to emerge across the county.

Like CUCA, it was organized by the Direct Action and Research Training Network, or DART, a national organization that helps communities work for social, racial and economic justice. Morgenstein, CUCA's co-chair, noted that the difference between the two groups is that the new one is countywide, while CUCA will continue to focus its social justice efforts within the city of St. Petersburg.

"We encourage everything they're doing. We also feel we have a heritage, a history of what we've done," Barrens said. "What keeps us going is the weight of what we've done. It's an important part of the soul of St. Petersburg. We just want to keep the flame alive."

CUCA's potluck supper, reunion and membership drive, Saturday, 5 to 7:30 p.m., Prayer Tower Church of God in Christ, 1137 37th St. S, St. Petersburg. Speakers will be Pinellas County School Board member Mary Brown; William Packer, chair, St. Petersburg Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Committee; Jim Barrens, CUCA former lead organizer; and current co-chairs, the Rev. Curtiss Long, New Faith Free Methodist Church, and Harvey Morgenstein, Temple Beth-El. Call 727 822-0784 or e-mail lakeviewpresbyterian@verizon.net to reserve space.

[Last modified August 17, 2005, 01:09:16]