wfn.org | INTERFAITH ALLIANCE CAMPAIGN CHALLENGES EXTREMISTS

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contact: Carol J. Fouke, NCC, 212-870-2252
Internet: carol_fouke.parti@ecunet.org

NCC7/17/96    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INTERFAITH ALLIANCE LAUNCHES PROGRAM CHALLENGING
EXTREMISTS

 WASHINGTON, D.C., July 17 ---- The Rev. Albert
Pennybacker, Chairman of The Interfaith Alliance
(TIA) and President of the Ecumenical Development
Initiative for the National and World councils of
churches, this week launched an ambitious nationwide
grassroots effort of voter education and
mobilization challenging religious political
extremists.

 "We are here today not to just put our faith
into words, but to put our words into action.  We
are here today to inspire others to action," the
Rev. Pennybacker stated as he unveiled the campaign
plan at Foundry United Methodist Church on Monday.
"Today we take the first step on what we are calling
our 'Road to Renewal' - to restore values,
strengthen families, rebuild communities - to renew
our faith and our nation; to challenge those who use
faith as a wedge instead of a welcome."

 The Interfaith Alliance is a national faith-
based organization with chapters in 35 states and
over 30,000 members from more than 30 different
faith communities.  TIA draws on shared religious
principles to promote the positive role of religion
in public life, while challenging those who
manipulate religion to push a partisan and
destructive political agenda.

 The Rev. Pennybacker outlined an extensive
schedule of "Road to Renewal" activities, which will
send the Alliance's national religious leaders
across America to local Interfaith Alliance chapters
as well as to the national party conventions.
Through its chapters, The Interfaith Alliance will
distribute millions of voter guides (October), hold
candidates to a "Pledge of Civility" repudiating the
use of religion as a weapon, and educate the public
on the political agenda of religious political
extremists, the Rev. Pennybacker explained.

 "Over the last few years we have witnessed
religious political extremists promote policies
which hurt the most vulnerable in our society such
as our children and thereby further unravel our
entire sense of community," he said.  "The Road to
Renewal is about challenging those who, in the name
of religion, encourage us to ignore our
responsibility to each other, such as those in the
Christian Coalition who preach a false gospel of
irresponsible individualism that threatens our
values, our families, and our future."

 The first public events are being held July 17
in Raleigh, N.C. and July 18 in Nashville, Tenn.
The Interfaith Alliance Foundation will also host an
interfaith prayer rally Aug. 11 (the Sunday before
the GOP convention) and the Friday before the
Democratic National Convention.  Dr. Joan Brown
Campbell, an Interfaith Alliance Board Member and
General Secretary of the NCC, will speak at those
events.  Closer to the election, clergy will be
asked to dedicate a portion of their sermon the
weekend before election day to the importance of
voting while state and local activists will ask
community members to sign a pledge that they will
exercise their duty to vote.

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