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Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer recently visited downtown Cincinnati, four miles from his birthplace.

Bauer told CT that evangelicals in Cincinnati have an opportunity to build a new paradigm of race relations that can survive even intense political division. "If Cincinnati black and white Christians could make common cause with each other," Bauer says, "they would be a political as well as moral force that would be hard for either political party establishment to deal with."

The question remains whether Cincinnati's Christian leaders will be able to move beyond their differences and work constructively on the city's problems as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Heimlich says that Tom Smith recently called and prayed with him. "This pastor married me and discipled Damon [Lynch], too," Heimlich says. "Eternal issues come first."

Over-the-Rhine resident Michael Carter, 11, is doing his part. Responding to classmates who said they participated in the riot, he rapped a tune that his group, The God Squad, put together:

He's the mender, the blender,
the Lord who brings together
the birds of different feather.
Say that again!

Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

How civility turned to anarchy: The Cincinnati Enquirer examines the tensions leading to the riots.

In U.S. News & World Report, Baptist Rev. Aaron Greenlea says the turmoil is due to a lack of economic opportunity for young black men.

The week that tore Cincinnati apart worked powerful changes on the Rev. Damon Lynch III, according to TheCincinnati Enquirer.

Less than three weeks after the riots, about 1,000 people turned out for the Over-the-Rhine Neighborhood Potluck block party to help heal wounds, according to The Cincinnati Post.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports on the formation of the Cincinnati Community Action Now.

Cincinnati CAN's official site has a bio on Lynch, and pdf Adobe Acrobat files of speeches made by the group.

For more articles on the riots see Yahoo's full coverage area.

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July 8 2001, Vol. 45, No. 9