wfn.org | Gore announces fatherhood program to United Methodist audience

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Oct. 22, 1999 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.    10-31-71B{555}

NOTE:  A photo is available for use with this story.

By Dean Snyder*

Vice-President Al Gore unveiled his plan to strengthen families, reduce
child poverty, and promote responsible fatherhood before a group of United
Methodists gathered at Congress Heights United Methodist Church in
Washington, D.C., on Oct. 20.

Gore chose a United Methodist audience because he felt a
Baltimore-Washington Conference program on Family and Child Support
exemplifies the spirit of his proposals, according to Sandy Ferguson,
associate director of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference Council on
Ministries. 

A "Family and Child Support Program Handbook," prepared jointly by Ferguson
and the Federal Office of Child Support, has been distributed to United
Methodist churches throughout the conference as part of the United Methodist
Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty. The handbook discusses the
United Methodist Church's historic commitment to strong families, suggests
ways to strengthen the role of fathers in low-income families, and provides
information about how to assist families in obtaining child support. 

"There are simple yet essential things every responsible father should do,
providing financial support, spending time with his children, and treating
the mother of his children with respect," Gore told about 120 United
Methodists from nearby churches gathered in Congress Heights' social hall.
"Promoting responsible fatherhood is the critical next phase of welfare
reform and one of the most important things we can do to reduce child
poverty," he added.

During a panel discussion following his remarks, Gore spoke with Veronica
Meeks, a single parent whose children attend Congress Heights' daycare
program, the Phyllis Elizabeth May Child Development Center. "I work
full-time, attend law school full-time, and I am a full-time mom with no
participation from (my children's) father," Meeks told the vice-president.
Before she enrolled her children in the church's center where they receive
full scholarships, she paid $1,000 of her $1,500 monthly salary for daycare.
"Had it not been for Pastor (Sandra) Greene and Congress Heights, it is
possible I would be a welfare mom," she added.

Gore also spoke with Douglas Tolbert, Jr., a former absentee father now
reunited with his son through the Non-custodial Parent Employment Program of
the Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Mental Health Services in Clearwater, Fla.
"I missed four years of my son's life," Tolbert said. "Pay your child
support and everything else falls into place."  

Gore's plan includes requirements that non-custodial fathers sign personal
responsibility contracts similar to those required of welfare mothers and
that all fathers owing child support be mandated by law to go to work. "We
require this of mothers now, right?  Why not require it of fathers?" Gore
said.

He also proposed that fathers who owe child support be denied new credit
cards and credit lines. "Parents who have a history of not paying child
support should not be rewarded with new financial benefits until they meet
their responsibilities to their kids," he said. "Where child support is
concerned, if you've not paid it, leave home without it."

Other proposals include: 

·	assuring that more child support goes directly from fathers to their
children without passing through government offices so fathers have a sense
of supporting their children rather than giving money to the government;
·	 providing grants to community and faith-based organizations to
provide couples with marriage preparation, mentoring, and counseling; and
·	doubling the amount of federal funds to facilitate non-custodial
parents' access and visitation with their children.

Turning to Greene, Congress Heights' pastor, Gore said, "Outside of a
genuine religious experience, Reverend, there is hardly anything more
transforming in the life of a man than getting involved with his children."

Before his speech Gore visited the church's child development center. In the
Wonderful Ones classroom he knelt at a table to help the 2- and 3-year-old
students study the letter B by calling out the names of some of the objects
on their worksheets, including a balloon and a Bible.  

"I have nothing but admiration for the good work you are doing in this
church," he told Greene who had served as the church's pastor part-time
until 1997 when Bishop Felton E. May, United Methodist bishop of the
Washington area, declared Congress Heights United Methodist Church to be a
Mission Disciple church.  He called for United Methodists from other area
churches to affiliate with Congress Heights for up to two years to assist in
rebuilding the congregation, initiating ministry to its poverty-stricken
community, and networking resources from their home churches. More than 80
persons responded to his call. With conference support, Greene left her
position as a public school teacher and became full-time pastor of the
church.

One of the projects begun by Greene and the mission disciples was the
Phyllis 
Elizabeth May Child Development Center, named in honor of the bishop's wife.
The pre-school, open from 6:00 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily, now has 30 students
and is being expanded to accommodate 60. 
 
After seeing the school, Gore quoted Proverbs 22, "Train up a child in the
way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."

# # #

*Snyder is director of communications for the Baltimore-Washington
Conference of the United Methodist Church.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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