Church in the country’s capital wants to remove memorial plaque of J. Edgar Hoover
A church in Washington, DC, has decided to remove a plaque from its nave dedicated to former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover because of his critical comments regarding racial issues.
In 1966, the Capitol Hill United Methodist Church dedicated a stained glass window in its sanctuary in honor of Hoover and placed a commemorative plaque beneath the sacred artwork.
The theologically progressive church will hold a service on Sept. 29 to “rededicate” the stained glass window and plans to move the panel to another location on the church grounds.
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“(The plaque) signals to me that you agree that J. Edgar Hoover is a good example of Christian virtue,” said the Rev. Stephanie Vader, senior pastor at Capitol Hill UMC, as reported by UM News. “Because why else would you put it up there?”
The Christian Post contacted the Capitol Hill United Methodist Church for this article, but church leaders declined to be interviewed.
Although Hoover’s FBI played a key role in crushing the Ku Klux Klan, it also spied on and harassed civil rights activists, particularly the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
According to Stanford University professor Lerone A. Martin, Hoover, who was raised as a Presbyterian, also helped pave the way for the modern Christian nationalism movement.
“When Hoover took over the FBI, he was consciously careful to reflect his white Christian nationalist views in it,” said Martin, who has written a book on the subject, UM News reported.
“He fired all female special agents and all colored men. He hired only white Catholic and Protestant men as FBI agents and to run his FBI.”
Capitol Hill UMC’s history with Hoover dates back to its founding in the early 1960s, when the newly formed congregation purchased land for a building that had been Hoover’s childhood home.
According to a brochure on the church’s history, Hoover expressed no objection to the demolition of his former home to create what is now the parking lot for Capitol Hill UMC.
At the dedication service for the stained glass window and plaque in 1966, which Hoover attended, he was hailed as a model of “statecraft through Christian virtues.”
“Reverend Edward Lewis, pastor of Capitol Hill UMC, preached on the Bible passage about the divine calling of the prophet Samuel, who helped lead the people of Israel from sin and idolatry back to God,” said the 1966 service brochure.
“Rev. Lewis said Hoover was a modern-day Samuel who had heeded God’s call to turn America away from subversion and back to God. Before offering a prayer, Bishop Hammaker confessed to being an ‘unabashed hero-worshipper’ of Hoover and then prayed for Hoover and the FBI to ‘continue to bring salvation to the nation.'”
