MIAMI -- Twenty-three African-American ministers huddled in the pews of Jordan Grove Baptist Church in the Liberty City neighborhood. The gray ones breathed the fire of history. A few young ones warned about firestorms of misinformation.
They were planning how to get out the vote on Election Day. Florida is a battleground state where Democrat Al Gore badly needs black voters to beat Republican George W. Bush.
''This is a crucial election,'' said John Sales of First Baptist of Brownsville. ''This is a life-threatening election. This is a life-changing election. The black vote is the balance of the scale in this election. White folks are split 50-50 on Gore and Bush. We hold the balance of the weight on the scale. We can determine if Gore wins. We must use our weight.''
Sales was a veteran. A young one, Kenneth Jones of Mt. Zion Baptist, said he had heard a rumor that ministers are telling people not to vote because Gore had not been to Miami's black churches.
Rudolph Daniels of Macedonia Missionary Baptist in Coconut Grove said: ''If this brother is hearing this, this is a fire we need to put out. Word of mouth is the deadliest form of destruction. We got to get on the radio stations.''
The ministers agreed to do radio ads. They coordinated vans to get people to the polls. They pledged to preach from the pulpit about voting. They promised a huge turnout.
''You don't need national campaign directors to tell you how to vote,'' Sales said. ''You don't have to need someone to tell you to vote. We've got to watch out for what's in the Bushes.''
David Horton of Greater New Bethel Baptist and the leader of a consortium of 43 Baptist churches in south Florida told the group how Bush would plunder Social Security for the benefit of the rich. ''Bush is not too smart, and anybody who votes for him is not too smart, either,'' Horton said.
But Horton was also concerned that Gore is not playing it smart with black voters in south Florida. Two days before, Horton was one of the ministers who met with Gore's running mate, Joseph Lieberman. Lieberman made a quick visit to a Liberty City restaurant, spoke before 1,000 people at a suburban Jewish center, and met with with Cuban exiles.
Horton said the visit was called too hastily (the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel said it was impromptu). ''I didn't think we had the turnout to make an impact in the community,'' Horton said. ''Now we're going to be out there fighting for votes, seeing how we're going to be the biggest losers if Bush gets in. But there should have been more of an effort by the Gore campaign to make itself visible in the black churches.''
Horton's sentiments were echoed by Sales. Sales recalled how President Clinton made well-planned visits to black Miami ''that spread through the community like wildfire.'' Gore has spoken in African-American churches elsewhere, but with the likes of New York congressman Charles Rangel openly questioning last week whether the black vote was being taken for granted, the Gore campaign has turned to Clinton to energize African-American leaders and go to black churches.
''It seems like Gore's whole deal is with the middle class as opposed to poor people,'' Sales said. ''He has not endeared himself to the masses. Maybe he does not want to be too visible in the black community and sends Jesse Jackson to talk to us.''
The Rev. Vane Eubanks, president of an association of 40 Baptist churches in greater Miami, said he had not been contacted by the Gore campaign. ''We will encourage the people to vote, but there's got to be substance coming from the candidate,'' Eubanks said. Jones added: ''Yes, it's hard to keep telling people to vote for the lesser of two evils. Unless I see a change, I believe Bush is going to win.''
Such concerns will not stop the ministers from breathing fire. One minister said he will walk the streets all day on Election Day to tell people to vote. Arthur Jackson of New Shiloh Baptist Church, the leader of a group of 100 Baptist churches in south Florida, shouted that his vans would be ''revved up and ready to go at 6 a.m.'' and that he would preach the Sunday before the election with a ''yearning and burning desire for the well-being of our community.''
Daniels said: ''The number one thing today is to get out the vote.'' They breathed the hot flames, hoping that Gore himself will not put them out. They talked about being the final weight on the scale, hoping Gore does not drop them like lead.
Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is jackson@globe.com.
