Healing the Hurt

EWING –Love really did conquer hate yesterday

The area’s leading black clergy joined arms around a retired white minister who, after allegedly sending them hateful and racist messages, confessed his wrongdoing.

Yesterday, the African-American clergy demonstrated the gospel’s message of forgiveness, gathering around the repentant man and praying for him.

The astonishing story began last Wednesday with disturbing news: Paul Shafran, 82, of Ewing, was arrested and charged with harassment and bias intimidation and released on 10 percent of $1,000 bail.

Police said he had left demeaning, derogatory messages on the telephone answering machines at three African-American churches on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The flinty little voice on the tape groused about “(racial epithet)” having their own holiday and droned on about chickens and watermelons.

The messages shocked and saddened people at St. John’s Baptist in Ewing and Galilee and Wayne Avenue Baptist Churches in Trenton.

Secretary Frances Thompson, and the Rev. Vincent Jackson at St. John’s immediately reported the call to police and the State Attorney General’s office. They figured it possibly constituted a civil rights violation or a hate crime.

At Galilee Baptist, Clerk Minnie Davis heard the mumblings and erased “the nonsense” into oblivion. She didn’t even consider telephoning the Caller-ID number back to chastise the caller.

“I’ve done enough of that (revenge) … when I was out in the world, before I gave my life to Christ,” she said.

Ewing police reacting to the church’s complaint traced the number left on the churches’ Caller IDs back to the address of Paul Shafran.

“His voice had similar characteristics to the voice on the machine,” said Sgt. Gregory Smith.

At least one neighbor was shocked at the news.

“I can’t believe he would do something like that,” said neighbor Joan Webster, who had heard that Shafran was a retired priest. “Are you sure you’ve got the right person?”

Others read his name in the newspaper and were stunned.

Among them were members of the church from which he retired as pastor 2½ years ago, St. Vladimir Orthodox Church at Stanton and Adeline streets.

The church’s current priest, Father Martin Kraus, was also dismayed.

“This is a total shock to me,” said Father Martin. “I just want to cry. This doesn’t make any sense to me. We love our neighborhood. … Even to hear that ‘n’ word being said, that’s not a part of our community. We’re a church of all God’s children.”

The Concerned Pastors of Trenton Area and Vicinity decided to meet yesterday at 2:15 p.m. to, as The Rev. Dr. Vincent H. Jackson, president, put it, “affirm our solidarity and commitment to confronting this evil act together.”

A dozen of the top pastors of the Trenton area — most of them angered by what had happened — arrived at St. John’s Baptist Church in Ewing.

But at the back of the church, before the meeting was called to order, a small figure with white hair, followed by his distraught wife, entered.

Paul Shafran, 82, had realized since Monday that his alleged telephone antics had been more injurious than he realized. He took Jackson’s hand and introduced himself; the black minister was startled to see him here.

Shafran quietly apologized for what he had done. He said he had been foolish, he had had some wine and he was sorry.

Jackson invited him to sit in a pew and stay. The meeting convened. “We want to stand together against this type of behavior which has no place in America today,” Jackson said.

The Rev. Willie Mae Nanton of Bordentown, former president of the Concerned Pastors, had been told Shafran was there to apologize. But she was still angry.

“I am infuriated that on a day that we as a people celebrate Martin Luther King’s life, that a man 82 years of age has the audacity to make such a phone call,” she said. “I only hope that somewhere before you leave this earth, you will have a change of heart.”

“This kind of exposed hatred is problematic,” added The Rev. Darrell Armstrong, of Shiloh Baptist, Trenton. “Whether it was intended or unintended has consequences. The consequence is that this will not be tolerated.”

Grace Montgomery, head of the Brae-Burn Civic Association, was hurt to see this happening in 2005.

And the Rev. Dr. James Howell, Mt. Calvary United Holy Church, Trenton, said, “No one should debilitate, or tear down, or destroy, anyone else.

“Rev. Martin Luther King won the Nobel Peace Award; he advocated peace. And if we pursued peace for all of us, your grandchildren and my grandchildren would live peacefully, and we could pass it down to another generation. He had a dream, to love and live together.”

The Rev. Joseph Ravenell said, “It is our prayer that this gentleman will understand that we are all men of God.”

They were pretty much addressing Shafran now. Elder Clemson Leach could not understand how Shafran at 82 “can still carry that with you. You chose to make the call; you can’t change what has been done. My prayer is that he is simply deranged.”

“Whether he was drunk, or whatever, it still was not right,” said Evangelist Joseph Leonard.

Police Chief Bob Coulton said he would not tolerate actions such as this. The mayor’s representative, Jim McManimon, said he was praying “for the gentleman to open up his heart.”

Jackson closed the meeting. He said the perpetrator was in the back, and had asked to make a statement. There had been a change of heart.

“After you do that,” Jackson said, “it is in the hands of the Lord.”

At that point Shafran, a white-haired, senior man walked to the front, said he had been foolish, and confessed his sins.

“I was a fool,” Paul Shafran said. “I had a glass of wine. I was listening to them talk on the radio about blacks having a holiday; I thought I would call them up and see what you think.

“I didn’t realize what I was doing,” he added. “I never had malice toward anyone. Hearing you now, I realize how much I hurt you. I got along with blacks in my congregation. I ask your forgiveness. I was dumb, stupid. I thought it was a small matter. Please forgive me.”

Rev. Jackson said, “Come on, brothers, let’s pray. We need healing in our churches. This gentleman comes as a perpetrator of a heinous crime against others. But we have a mandate to forgive. We forgive.”

Then they went to the front of the church, circled the contrite man and prayed.

“We ask you to look into this man’s heart,” Rev. Jackson said, his voice rising. “He has been preaching all his life; we ask you to touch his heart — to pull out the cold hatred and pull in the warm love. Help that love begin. Cast the demon out of him now. Make a new preacher out of him!”