wfn.org | NCC Burned Churches Fund information

[GEORGE_CONKLIN.parti@ecunet.org]

To: wfn-editors@wfn.org

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Communication Commission

Contact: Carol Fouke, 212-870-2252

NCC6/23/96                               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                
 BURNED CHURCHES FUND TO HELP REBUILD CHURCHES, ADDRESS RACISM

ADVISORY TO EDITORS AND REPORTERS REGARDING THE:

               BURNED CHURCHES FUND
               c/o National Council of Churches
               475 Riverside Drive
               New York, NY 10115

               (1-800-762-0968 for Credit Card Gifts)

We are receiving many calls from media and the public asking how
to contribute to stopping the epidemic of attacks on Black
churches and to the rebuilding of burned churches.  One major way
is through the Burned Churches Fund, established by the National
Council of Churches (NCC) and gaining wide support, including from
the American Jewish Committee and the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops.

The fund will be administered by a panel of civic and religious
leaders, including pastors from burned churches, who will set
criteria and ensure that funds get applied where most needed.  The
NCC Executive Board, whose 52 members represent the Council's 33
Protestant and Orthodox member denominations, carries policy
authority for the NCC, including the Burned Churches Fund.

The primary purpose of the Burned Churches Fund is to restore the
burned and desecrated African American church buildings and other
places of worship that have been victimized in the current wave of
racism and bigotry.  Many have no insurance coverage and many more
are finding their coverage woefully inadequate.  Of the Fund's $4
million initial budget, $3,725,000 will support reconstruction.

The remaining $275,000 will focus on the underlying racism that
drives the burnings through: 1) Advocacy with government to
investigate, prosecute the guilty and provide appropriate
protection for those hurt or vulnerable; 2) Development of crisis
teams for immediate deployment where burning or acts of
desecration occur, and 3) Public interpretation and education
about racism both broadly through religious institutions and in
public and secular settings.

     Establishment of the fund marks another major step in the
NCC's work to address the epidemic of burnings.  An NCC-led team,
including the Atlanta-based Center for Democratic Renewal and the
New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, was formed in
January 1996, and in March made its first of some 30 site visits
(to date) of burned churches across the South.

     That coalition brought pastors from burned churches to
Washington, D.C., June 9-10 to meet with President Clinton,
Attorney General Janet Reno, Treasury Department Secretary Robert
Rubin, members of Congress and others.  As a result, President
Clinton has made this a priority concern for his administration.

-end-