wfn.org | NCCCUSA ANNOUNCES $916,000 IN GRANTS TO BURNED CHURCHES

[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

NCC7/23/96                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BURNED CHURCHES FUND GRANTS COMMITTEE
APPROVES FIRST $900,000 FOR AFFECTED CHURCHES

 NEW YORK, July 23 ---- Nine burned African
American churches will begin or complete restoration
as the result of the first round of grants, totaling
$916,000, from the Burned Churches Fund, established
by the National Council of Churches and supported by
a broad ecumenical and interfaith community.

 The grants were announced today by the Fund's
blue-ribbon Grants Committee, co-chaired by the
NCC's President, United Methodist Bishop Melvin
Talbert, Sacramento, Calif., and General Secretary,
the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, New York, and
including as members two well-recognized civil
rights leaders, Ambassador Andrew Young and Vernon
Jordan.

 All amounts are the maximum grants authorized
by the Grants Committee.  Donated materials and
labor could reduce the amount of cash needed, and
actual cash needs could be less than currently
estimated.  Any church needing more than the
designated amount will be encouraged to submit a
further proposal.

 The Burned Churches Fund is part of a broader
NCC-led effort to investigate and stop hate-
motivated attacks on places of worship and help with
rebuilding, bring the perpetrators to justice, and
address the wider issues of racism that underlie the
attacks.

 Able to begin rebuilding thanks to the Burned
Churches Fund grants are:  Butler Chapel African
Methodist Episcopal Church, Orangeburg, S.C.,
granted $200,000; New Hope Baptist Church, Seattle,
Wash., $200,000; Gays Hill Baptist Church, Millen,
Ga., $110,000, and St. Paul's Primitive Baptist
Church, Lauderdale, Miss., $90,000.

 Able to advance work thanks to the Burned
Churches Fund grants:  Macedonia Missionary Baptist
Church, Fruitvale, Tenn., $100,000, and Mount Zion
Baptist Church, Boligee, Ala., $100,000.

 Able to complete rebuilding thanks to the
Burned Churches Fund grants:  Mt. Zoar Baptist
Church, Boligee, Ala., $40,000 for replacement of
interior furnishings, which will allow the
congregation to begin using the church in August;
Canaan African Methodist Episcopal Church, Columbia,
Tenn., $5,000 for finishing and trim work on the
lower level, and Mt. Zion African Methodist
Episcopal Church, Greeleyville, S.C., $6,000 for
site backfill and landscaping (plus pro bono
landscape assistance) along with a total of $65,000
to retire a portion of the indebtedness of
reconstruction costs.  The latter sum includes the
$20,000 advance that the NCC general secretary
presented to the church on June 12 during President
Clinton's visit there.

 The Grants Committee also approved up to
$100,000 total for site visits to assess
congregations' rebuilding needs and help with
initial reconstruction advice and planning.

 Ambassador Andrew Young is Co-Chair of the
Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games; Vernon E.
Jordan, Esq., is a senior partner in the law firm
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld in Washington,
D.C.  NCC General Secretary Campbell is a minister
in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and
American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.

 Other Grants Committee members are:

 Bishop John Hurst Adams, Columbia, S.C., Senior
Bishop, African Methodist Episcopal Church and
Presiding Bishop, Seventh Episcopal District (S.C.);
Congress of National Black Churches Founder/Chairman
Emeritus, with headquarters in Washington, D.C.;
Bishop Joseph A. Francis, S.V.D., Roman Catholic
Auxiliary Bishop of Newark, N.J.; the Rev. Dr. Will
Herzfeld, Associate Executive Director of Global
Community and Overseas Operations, Division for
Global Mission, Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, Chicago, NCC Vice President for Church
World Service and Witness.

 Also, the Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson, Head of
the Commission for Racial Justice, United Church of
Christ, Cleveland, Ohio; The Rev. Dr. Clifton
Kirkpatrick, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Stated
Clerk, Louisville, Ky.; the Rev. Dr. Timothy
Mitchell, Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church,
Flushing, N.Y., and Chief of Staff, National Baptist
Convention, U.S.A., Inc.; Dr. Diane M. Porter,
Senior Executive for Program, The Episcopal Church,
New York, and Chair of the Burned Churches Program
Committee; Rabbi James Rudin, National
Interreligious Affairs Director, American Jewish
Committee, New York; the Rev. Dr. Bennett W. Smith
Sr., Buffalo, N.Y., President, Progressive National
Baptist Convention, Inc.; the Rev. C.T. Vivian,
Board Chairman, Center for Democratic Renewal,
Atlanta, Ga.; and Bishop R.H.L. Winbush, Chair,
Congress of National Black Churches, a Church of God
in Christ General Board Member, Bishop of his
denomination's First Jurisdiction of Louisiana, and
Pastor, Gethsemane Church of God in Christ;
Lafayette, La.  An appointment from the Unitarian
Universalist Association is pending.

 Serving as consultant to the Grants Committee
is the Rev. Dr. Oscar McCloud, Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), Associate Minister for Administration at
the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York.

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