subject: Church Chiding The Foreclosing Banks In Its Own Traditional But Firm Way [print this page] During Lent Reverend Ryan Bell has guided his congregation of Southern California through the spirit of penitence. He has stressed on the teachings of Isaiah about loosening the bonds of injustice. The music being played was no longer ebullient but reflective. He has told his flock to give up many things ranging from Facebook to Caffeine till Easter. Together with this he has told them about another obligation withdrawing all the money of the church, running into hundreds and thousands of dollars from its Bank of America account.
By the end of the resurrection celebrations he would have completed transferring the amount to one local bank. This was to be a symbolic protest against Bank of Americas role in the foreclosure crisis and also a call to the banks to repent and seek forgiveness.
Bell of Hollywood Adventist Church located close to Los Angeles speaking over the phone said, To right the wrongs of the world is as much a part of the Lenten experience as to repent ourselves. During this season when we individually are examining our lives, we think its appropriate for the institutions that affect us to examine theirs.
Similar measures have been taken by many members of the clergy and congregations during the previous three years. It started with two ministers in the suburbs of Oakland the movement is now witnessing a growth covering nearly 25 congregations as per the findings of PICO National Network.
Groups of congregations seeking social justice have begun campaigning along these lines. Withdrawals have been made to the tune of $16 million by congregations and $15 million by individuals and partner organizations from the major banks mainly from JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
The idea has caught on so strongly this year that some of the members of the clergy sprinkled ashes outside an ATM kiosk of Wells Fargo on Ash Wednesday. The ministers in a foreclosure sabbaticalinvoked the ancient sacred Judaic idea of forgiving debts on each seventh year.
Reverend Richard Smith of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelists located in San Francisco said that this campaign about closing accounts with offending banks relates to a ritual of early Christianity reconciliation of the penitents. This rite did not take place in the privacy of the confessional but in public. Smith justified the action. He said that a parallel can be drawn. Our banks have done a great deal of damage in a very public way. So it seems appropriate as we enter into a season of penitence that we invite those who separated themselves from the community to repent with us.
