wfn.org | $499,445 MORE IN BURNED CHURCHES FUND GRANTS ANNOUNCED BY NCCCUSA

[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

NCC8/6/96                       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

$499,445 MORE IN BURNED CHURCHES FUND GRANTS
ANNOUNCED;
NEW GRANTS BRING TOTAL SO FAR TO $1.4 MILLION FOR 14
CHURCHES

 NEW YORK, August 6 ---- A modest emergency
grant from the Burned Churches Fund will enable
Central Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Kossuth,
Miss., to meet an immediate need -- enough folding
chairs for everyone to sit during services in the
congregation's temporary worship space.

 The 80-member congregation, whose house of
worship was destroyed by arson June 17, also will
get up to $125,000 for reconstruction from the Fund,
established by the National Council of Churches and
supported by a broad ecumenical and interfaith
community.  But in the meantime it had only eight
lawn chairs, and only the elderly were able to sit
for worship in its temporary structure, donated by
AmeriCare.

 The emergency grant of $1,445 for 75 folding
chairs was approved last night by the Burned
Churches Fund's blue-ribbon Grants Committee, which
voted a total of $499,445 for five burned African
American churches.  The committee is co-chaired by
the NCC's President, United Methodist Bishop Melvin
Talbert, Sacramento, Calif., and General Secretary,
the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, and includes as
members two well-recognized civil rights leaders,
Ambassador Andrew Young and Vernon Jordan.

 The new grants bring to $1,415,445 the total
allocated so far to enable 14 burned churches to
begin or complete restoration.  The first grants
($916,000 for nine churches) were announced July 23.
A third round of grants is expected in early
September.

 All amounts are specified as “up to” the
designated amount 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.

 In addition to Central Grove Missionary Baptist
Church, another Kossuth, Miss., congregation -- Mt.
Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, destroyed by
arson the same night -- will receive up to $60,000
to support reconstruction.

 Other grants were voted for:

 * Salem Baptist Church, Fruitland, Tenn.,
$180,000 to support reconstruction.  The church's
entire structure was destroyed in the Dec. 30, 1995,
arson, and contents were lost.  Rebuilding is
underway at the original site.

 * New Liberty Baptist Church, Tyler, Ala.,
$125,000 to support reconstruction.  The church's
entire structure was destroyed by arson on February
28, 1996, and contents were lost.  The church plans
to rebuild on site.

 * Matthews-Murkland Presbyterian Church,
Charlotte, N.C., $8,000 to restore church records
and undertake the initial plans for building
construction.  The church lost its historic (1903)
secondary sanctuary, church records, educational
materials and furniture to arson on June 6, 1996.
Not long before, the church had voted to use the old
sanctuary as a program center.

 The National Council of Churches will send a
representative to the August 11 groundbreaking
ceremonies at St. Paul's Primitive Baptist Church,
Lauderdale, Miss.  The Burned Churches Fund, in its
first round of grants, voted up to $90,000 toward
that church's reconstruction.

 The NCC is the oldest and largest religious
ecumenical organization in the United States, with
33 Protestant and Orthodox member denominations that
in turn have 52 million members.  Partners with the
NCC in the Burned Churches Fund include the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, American Jewish
Committee, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
– Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Unitarian
Universalist Association, Congress of National Black
Churches, Islamic Circle of North America and
Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of
America.

 Gifts may be sent to the Burned Churches Fund –
NCC, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115.  For
credit card gifts, phone 1-800-762-0968.

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