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[ROY_LLOYD.parti@ecunet.org]

CONTACT: Carol J.  Fouke, NCC, 212-870-2252

NCC6/27/96                                      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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NOTE TO EDITORS AND REPORTERS:  We are receiving many calls from media and
the public asking how to help stop the epidemic of attacks on Black
churches and rebuild the 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.

Contributions may be mailed to the Burned Churches Fund, c/o National
Council of Churches, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115 or phoned to
1-800-762-0968 (for credit card gifts).
***********************************************************************

        PASTORS OF BURNED CHURCHES, OTHER U.S. RELIGIOUS LEADERS
      HOSTED BY PRESIDENT CLINTON JUNE 26 AT WHITE HOUSE BREAKFAST

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 26 ---- Pastors from burned Black churches,
accompanied by National Council of Churches General Secretary Joan Brown
Campbell, joined President Clinton and representatives from a broad
spectrum of religious and political perspectives for breakfast at the White
House today.  They thanked him for making the arsons and the underlying
racism a priority concern of his administration.

    "He's setting the tone that our nation is not going to tolerate this
thing," said Ms. Debra Jackson, representing the Glorious Church of God in
Christ, Richmond, Va., which burned down in February.  The Rev. Jonathan
Mouzan of Macedonia Baptist Church, Manning, S.C., whose church burned in
June 1995, agreed with her saying, "The President showing his concern and
compassion about our situation means a great deal."

    The some 40 breakfast guests included seven pastors and two others
representing burned churches in Alabama, North and South Carolina,
Tennessee, Virginia and Oklahoma.  Guests repeatedly thanked President
Clinton "that despite the tragedy in Saudi Arabia and the President's
obvious tiredness, he had this breakfast and didn't cancel it or turn it
over to others," reported the Rev. Dr. Campbell.

    At the same time, those killed and injured in the attack in Saudi
Arabia were very much on the hearts of all assembled, she said.  "We prayed
for the families of the people affected there," naming the concern in the
invocation, benediction and many comments in between.

    The NCC is leading a major effort to investigate and stop racially
motivated and other "hate attacks" on houses of worship, bring legal action
against the perpetrators, rebuild burned churches and promote community
dialogue about racism.

    "President Clinton said he feels this is the most important issue the
nation faces, because of what it reveals about the American character," Dr.
Campbell said.  "He said he believed this was a defining moment in this
nation's history and that there's nothing more important we could do than
to deal with the underlying issues that have created these burnings."

    She said the President spent about an hour "listening to people who
gave him suggestions and comments."  The Rev. Jesse Jackson called for a
nationwide conference on race, she reported, and "I put forward the idea
that there needs to be a week, perhaps even a month, in which we would
focus nationally on a unity of heart.  President Clinton said he felt that
needed to come from the religious community."  She said the NCC and others
from a broadly interfaith spectrum would follow up.

    Ms. Jackson sat at the head table with President Clinton, Republican
leader Jack Kemp and others.  She and other representatives from burned
churches told the President they "wanted to do something that was lasting--
to have conferences, to build real bridges, to open honest dialogue and to
create a lasting climate of tolerance."

    "It's got to be the ground-level people who understand that just
because you don't look the same, you still have rights, you still have
feelings," Ms. Jackson said.  "If I treat you in every situation, in every
business deal, in every part of my life the way I want to be treated, the
world will be a better place."

    The Rev. Larry Hill of the Matthews-Murkland Presbyterian Church in
Charlotte, N.C., whose historic sanctuary was destroyed by fire June 6,
said those who are burning churches in an "attempt to fan racial and
religious hatred across the country" are having the opposite effect.
"People of all racial and religious backgrounds have stood up in outrage
against what happened, declared support for one another and pledged to work
with others of different faiths to help try to stop this evil thing."

    Dr. Campbell said President Clinton thanked the National Council of
Churches for its moral leadership and its work to rebuild burned churches
with support from the Burned Churches Fund.  She said, "The NCC from the
beginning has been concerned both about the restoration of the churches and
the restoration of the spirit of community in the country.  We cannot give
up on that work even as we engage in restoration.  Otherwise, as one of the
pastors said, we will forever be rebuilding."

                                     -end-

ÿ
Roy Lloyd in the New York Office