Ten Christians were arrested on Pentecost Monday for praying on the driveway of the Williams International cruise missile engine plant in Walled Lake, Michigan. Four of the 10 are still in jail on an open-ended sentence, and the judge has said he will not release them until they promise never to return to the plant.
The churches in the Wellman, Kalona, and West Chester areas of Iowa held a celebration of Pentecost at the Mid-Prairie High School. One thousand people attended. Theologian John Howard Yoder preached on the power of the Spirit to enable God's people to take steps that would be impossible without God's grace.
Church people in Kearney, Nebraska; Newton, Kansas; Denver, Colorado; Bangor, Washington; and many other cities and towns took their Pentecost prayers for peace to the tracks traveled by the Department of Energy's (DOE) "White Train," which carries assembled nuclear warheads from the Pantex production facility at Amarillo, Texas, to deployment sites on either coast. Although no nuclear train was moving on the day of the vigils, the trackside actions in many locations heightened public awareness of the passage of nuclear weapons through those communities and involved new people who will return to the tracks when the train rolls again.
These and hundreds of other events were part of the nationwide celebration of Peace Pentecost, a day of Christian worship and witness against the nuclear arms race. Christians in more than 200 cities in 42 states reported sponsoring peace activities as part of their celebration of Pentecost. Peace Pentecost events ran the spectrum from individual congregations holding peace services in their churches to whole denominations—the United Church of Christ, for example—proclaiming Pentecost as a day of peacemaking in their official liturgical calendars. Pentecost has become an important focal point of the faith-based movement for justice and peace.
The 10 people arrested at the Williams plant in Michigan had planned to enter the main gate of the cruise missile engine plant, but when they arrived the gates were shut by security police. The group stopped in the driveway and blocked traffic into the plant for 15 minutes with their singing and praying. Those arrested were charged not only with criminal trespass, but also with civil contempt for violating a court injunction against demonstrations at the plant.
Four of the protesters filed an appeal with the State Appellate Court and were released pending a decision on the appeal. Four other members of the group have chosen not to appeal and will remain in jail indefinitely. One of the four, Bill Kellermann, a United Methodist pastor from Detroit, wrote to the judge, "The employ of Civil Contempt appears to be a new corporate tactic for the purpose of conforming, binding, and resigning our consciences to the smooth operation of cruise missile engine production. This, in all manner of prayer and action, we straightforwardly resist."
Patricia Mentzer of Church of the Messiah in Detroit also explained her reason for refusing to appeal and thus remaining in jail. Mentzer wrote to the judge, "Entering into cooperation with the court system, for us at this time, has a way of obscuring the truth behind legal rhetoric. We may be here for a long time but it will give us time to pray for the world and our own sinfulness."
Seven people were arrested after praying and distributing material inside Wurtsmith Air Force Base near Oscoda, Michigan. Sister Ardeth Platte, who is the mayor pro tern of Saginaw, and Sister Carole Gilbert were ticketed for unlawful entry onto a military installation.
The DOE's White Train was the focus of Peace Pentecost activities in many places across the country. In Bangor, Washington, the train's northwest terminus and the site of the Trident nuclear submarine base, several hundred Christians gathered for a Pentecost service at the southern gate of the base. Seventy-five people walked 15 miles from Peace Pentecost services at Seattle's St. Mark's Cathedral and Tacoma's Bethany Methodist Church to join the group in Bangor. The events were sponsored by the Agape Community, which links people of faith living along the tracks the White Train travels, and the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Bangor. The Archdiocese of Seattle and the Seattle Council of Churches gave their support to the peace witness.
Hundreds of Christians gathered at the railroad tracks in Denver, although the DOE has recently chosen to avoid sending the train through Colorado because of growing public opposition there. After a capacity crowd worship service at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, Father Marshall Gourley welcomed the people who came to the tracks with the words, "We as people of faith gather on this special day when God's spirit of truth came upon the apostles in a special way. God spoke to people of peace and transformed their lives. We are here today not only as a people who want peace, but as a people who will struggle for peace. The death train moves through our lives and our neighborhoods."
Sister Patricia McCormick, an organizer of the Denver Peace Pentecost events, said the high turnout showed that "people are more aware of nuclear arms as being an invasion into their neighborhoods. I am encouraged by their determination to give witness to their 'no.'"
In Topeka, Kansas, 150 Christians brought to light the train's passage through their town by holding a service outside the Amtrak station. They ended the service by placing flowers on the railroad tracks. Similar White Train vigils took place in dozens of towns in every region of the country.
Another public witness against the White Train took place outside the Forrestal Building, DOE's main headquarters in Washington, D.C. About 300 people participated in the day's activities, which included a symbolic laying of railroad rails on the plaza in front of the building, and a children's "Rainbow Peace Train" (see "Euclid Street Journal," page 33).
Thirty people then attempted to take their prayers for peace into the lobby of the building. When the DOE's security police locked the main entrance, the group gathered in prayer and song in front of the doors. Although the nonviolent presence closed the building's front doors for five hours and was illegal, the DOE refused to arrest the protesters.
One of those involved in the vigil commented on the irony of the situation in light of the Pentecost story. "Here we are, Christians on the streets proclaiming the good news," the woman said, "and this time it's the authorities who are hiding behind locked doors!"
Much of the Peace Pentecost activity was used to help build the ongoing campaign against the White Train. At the Washington, D.C. events, for example, people signed up to be part of a phone tree that will be used to notify churches and individuals of the train's next journey, at which time a vigil will be held at the Forrestal Building. At the Bangor, Washington service 140 people joined reflection and action groups. People in these groups will prepare together for the arrival of the next train. All along the tracks and elsewhere in the country, collections were taken to establish a 24-hour watch outside the Pantex plant to provide an early warning whenever the train begins a journey with its deadly nuclear cargo.
Christians in the San Francisco area combined their Pentecost resistance to nuclear arms with opposition to U.S. policy in Central America. They held a June 10 prayer vigil at the Concord naval weapons station, which is a storage facility for nuclear weapons as well as a point of departure for U.S. military materiel en route to the war in El Salvador. The following day, in the lobby of the San Francisco Federal Building, a liturgy was conducted that ended with the arrest of 20 Christians.
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Peace Pentecost events also focused on Central America as 12 people were arrested at the Pittsburgh office of Republican Senator John Heinz. The group had vowed to remain in Heinz's office until the senator promised to vote against further funding of the U.S.-backed war against Nicaragua.
Peace Pentecost 1984 was another indication of the commitment in the churches to oppose the war preparations being made by this administration. Much of the public witness for peace was made by Christians who had never before publicly proclaimed the political significance of their faith. The pollsters and political pundits may not have recognized it yet, but the Spirit of Pentecost that has been blowing through the churches could very well be a gale of surprising force in the months and years ahead.
Jim Rice is editor of Sojourners magazine.
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