WHITE PASTORS TO JOIN IN MARCH

They'll Support Black Minister In Crime Area

At least 30 white pastors plan to march through a crime-ridden neighborhood
tomorrow night to support a black minister who told Jacksonville police he
was threatened by drug dealers.

"We take it very personally. When you threaten one pastor, you really
threaten us all," said the Rev. Ted Corley, pastor of Mayfair Baptist
Church in the Southside.

Corley chairs Mission First Coast, an interracial group of about 40 clergy
who were outraged when they read of threats made against the Rev. John
Guns, pastor of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Washington Heights.
Guns reported to police July 16 that several of his parishioners told him
drug dealers had placed a $25,000 bounty on his head after 12 people were
charged with running a cocaine ring in the neighborhood.

"We were beginning to see a lot of quality people feeling like the
neighborhood wasn't their's anymore, so we felt we had a responsibility as
a church to do something," he said. "But we don't kid ourselves. Our work
has upset some people."

Nevertheless, Guns continues his efforts at outreach with the same energy
he puts into his fiery preaching. He planned a two-night tent revival on
Ken Knight Drive tomorrow and Wednesday to "encourage the residents whose
lives have been impacted by the negative business conducted in their own
back yards." A march from the church to the tent is planned.

Then Corley and his group heard about it and decided Thursday they needed
to participate.

"One of our major objectives over the next few years is to build a stronger
racially mixed effort ... and one of the things we've noticed is that
whenever there's an issue, the black ministers always speak up and we never
show up," Corley said. "We just felt it was important for us to come
alongside Dr. Guns and his church and to say 'we're there with you.'''

"If you threaten Dr. Guns, you threaten every one of us. If you take out
Dr. Guns, one of us will step up into his place. The streets of our city do
not belong to crime, drugs and violence. They belong to the citizens of
Jacksonville and the church is stepping up to claim those streets for the
glory of Jesus Christ."

Guns said the bounty on his head does not scare him and he told members of
his congregation during worship services yesterday that it is most
important they remain focused on continuing to improve the community.

"This revival is going to send a message to our enemies that we are not
going to back off," he said. "This is our big chance to make a difference.
We can't blow it."

The Rev. Kenneth Adkins, St. Paul's director of marketing and community
development, said the white ministers' involvement will be powerful.

"It's going to make a major statement," he said. "Here's a group of 30
white pastors whose support was unsolicited who called us and said if you
threaten a man of God, you threaten each and every one of us."

(SIDEBAR)

A march from St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church at 3738 WintonDrive to Ken
Knight Drive will begin at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow.It will be followed by a tent
revival supporting efforts to rid the Washington Heights neighborhood of
drugs and crime. Guns and his congregation have been actively trying to
clean up the neighborhood around Ken Knight Drive for several years by
establishing a charter school, an affordable housing agency, and a job
training center.