NEW YORK (ABP) — In 1991, Crown Heights became infamous. The death of a young African-American child, who was hit by a car driven by a Jewish man, sparked three days of race riots in the Brooklyn neighborhood that made national headlines.
Today, Crown Heights remains racially diverse – African and Caribbean Americans call the district home and its Hasidic Jewish community is one of the largest in the United States. And Hispanic Americans, along with young white couples, are moving in.
But, for a neighborhood known for and scarred by racial tension, peace is still an important message 16 years later.
Greater Restoration Baptist Church in Crown Heights began as a Bible study five years after the riots. Currently, more than 30 members — representing countries such as Trinidad, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Panama — attend services each Sunday at the storefront church, located along one of Crown Heights' main arteries.
“We are a small church but a very diverse church, with people from different racial and socio-economic backgrounds,” said Ken Bogan, pastor of Greater Restoration. “We are trying to figure out how to be a multi-racial church, and we are really committed to racial reconciliation. It's important to for us to be a positive witness and provide hope to the Crown Heights community.”
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship began partnering with Greater Restoration in 1998 when Ronnie Adams, a CBF missionary in New York, met Bogan. That summer, facilitated by Adams, Fellowship partner churches sent teams to Brooklyn to lead summer camps. Now, an average of 12 churches a year send teams to Crown Heights to work alongside Greater Restoration in its community ministries.
“This is a small, community-based church that really wants to be the presence of Christ in its community,” said Adams, a Texas native. “And they are doing a great job for a church that has limited funds and [whose weekly] attendance is less than 100. They show the hospitality of Christ in a wonderful way.”
Adams and Taisha Rose, who serves in Brooklyn as one of CBF's field personnel, are involved in the church's two primary areas of ministry — peaceful mediation and education.
While racial tensions have eased since 1991, the community is still affected by violence. Recently a young man who was a leader in the church's summer youth camps and a local high school football player was shot nine times.
The church frequently partners with the Crown Heights Mediation Center, which was founded as a direct result of the 1991 riots. The center provides resources on solving issues without violence and often connects people looking for a church with Greater Restoration.
“The church talks a lot about reconciliation and being peacemakers,” said Rose, of Stone Mountain, Ga. “They stress that peace starts with us. It's an important concept to teach — appreciating people for who they are even though they may be different than you, especially when you have such a diverse community.”
With neighborhood schools consistently scoring among the lowest in the state, the church places importance on education. In addition to weekly GED classes, Greater Restoration also provides an after-school program, which includes an hour of tutoring and opportunities for children to learn to sing, play the guitar, piano and drums.
“One day a few of the students told me that their standardized test was interrupted at school because a police officer came in to search everyone for weapons,” said Adams, a native of Dallas. “The students were upset because the timer for the test wasn't stopped during the search. That was shocking to me. We want to let the children of this area know that they do have a future — they are people of worth now.”
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