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NCC Grants Nearly $1.6 Million to 38 Burned Churches 38 Churches named in
this note Title: NCC Grants $1.6 million for 38 Burned Churches National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Internet: c/o
carol_fouke.parti@ecunet.org

NCC12/18/96  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IN ITS FIFTH GRANTS ROUND, THE NCC-LAUNCHED BURNED CHURCHES FUND VOTES
NEARLY $1.6 MILLION FOR 38 BURNED CHURCHES; TOTAL GRANTS AT $4.6 MILLION
FOR 79 CHURCHES

 NEW YORK, Dec. 18 ---- Thirty-eight burned churches were voted a total of
$1,594,074 in new grants by the Grants Committee of the Burned Churches
Fund, established by the National Council of Churches and supported by a
broad ecumenical and interfaith community, the NCC announced today.

 These latest grants bring to more than $4,607,021 million the funds that
the Grants Committee has earmarked through the National Rebuilding
Initiative for the rebuilding of 79 houses of worship, most of them African
American churches in the U.S. Southeast.  The purpose of the Burned
Churches Fund is to help rebuild houses of worship burned for reasons of
hate, and to address the racism that underlies many attacks.

 The $4,607,021 in cash grants constitutes part of a larger "blended
package" of assistance being coordinated through the NCC's Burned Churches
Project.  To date, wood products donated by the International Paper Company
and valued at $420,000 have been used at 28 of the rebuilding sites, and
modular buildings donated by G.E. Capital and valued at $155,394 have been
deployed to eight sites.

 In addition, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is
working closely with the National Council of Churches in a National
Rebuilding Initiative to offer guarantees for more than $10 million in
private reconstruction loans for houses of worship that have suffered arson
attacks.

 The Burned Churches Fund Grants Committee meeting, held by telephone
conference call on December 12, was its fifth since July.

 The 79 houses of worship voted rebuilding grants to date are among the 124
burned churches that the NCC is assessing in "Phase One" of its response to
the ongoing epidemic of attacks.

With this round, the committee has completed assessment of 94 houses of
worship.  Of those, 10 said they did not need assistance and five were
judged not to fit the NCC's criteria for grants.

Thirty of the 124 are still to be assessed.  The assessment process
includes examination of the circumstances of the fire, the congregation's
profile and plans, and other resources available for rebuilding, including
fire insurance payouts and other donations.

 Grants this round range from $5,000 to $100,000 and included several
$10,000 grants to help congregations defray the closing costs of
refinancing their current mortgage using the HUD loan guarantee program.

In most cases, grants are disbursed in installments in close consultation
with the respective congregations as they proceed through the various
stages of rebuilding. All grants are specified as "up to" the designated
amount and as such, serve as a "line of credit" from the Burned Churches
Fund.  This is because actual cash needed could be less than currently
estimated, or could be reduced by use of in-kind goods, other contributions
and donated labor.  (This already is happening with the "up to" amounts
awarded in earlier rounds, the Grants Committee was told. A full accounting
is expected by year's end.)

  Churches voted funds from the Burned Churches Grants Committee this
evening are:

 ALABAMA:  Little Zion Baptist Church, Boligee; Central Baptist Church,
Marion Junction; Emmanuel Church, Decatur.

 ARKANSAS: Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Proctor; St. Mark's
Missionary Baptist, Tyronza; Mount Zion Missionary Baptist, Turner; Love's
Rest #II Church, Gillett; St. Matthew's Baptist, Marvel; Kentucky
Missionary Baptist, Benton.

 CALIFORNIA: New Creation Lutheran Church, San Jose.

 CONNECTICUT: Second New Life Free Will Baptist, Bridgeport.

 FLORIDA: Faith Christian Center, Tallahassee; Salem African Methodist
Episcopal Church, Greensboro; Solid Rock Baptist Church, Miami.

 GEORGIA: Salem Missionary Baptist, Barney; Elam Baptist Church, Gray.

 LOUISIANA:  Rose Hill Baptist, Abbeville.

MISSOURI: Grace Chapel Ministries, St. Louis.

MISSISSIPPI: St. Paul's Primitive Baptist Church, Lauderdale (awarded a
small, second grant to meet a construction cost overrun); Rocky Point
Baptist Church, McComb.

 NORTH CAROLINA: Mt. Moriah, Mebane.

 SOUTH CAROLINA: Rosemary Baptist Church, Varnville; First Thankful Baptist
Church, Estill; Macedonia Baptist Church, Manning (HUD guaranteed loan
only, as the church has a large enough congregation to finance a low-cost
rebuilding loan); Tucker Chapel, Newberry; Mt. Hill Missionary Baptist
Church, Montmorenci; Jerusalem Branch Baptist, Salley; South
Richland Bible Way, Gadsen.

 TENNESSEE: Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Bolivar; God's Chapel, Niota;
Boones Temple Pentecostal, Speedwell; New Shiloh United Methodist Church,
Humboldt; Jellico Baptist Church, Jellico.

 TEXAS: Cyprus Trails Methodist, Spring; Compassionate Community, Dallas.

 VIRGINIA: Greater Mt. Zion Tabernacle, Portsmouth.

 WASHINGTON: Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Puyallup.

 Additionally, under the Grants Committee emergency provision, Holy Cross
Church of God in Christ, Dallas, Tex. received a rebuilding grant.  

 Contributions to the Burned Churches Fund totaled $6,231,586 as of Nov.
30, with an additional $3.9 million in "in-kind" contributions available to
be drawn upon ($1.5 million in wood products from the International Paper
Company, $400,000 in modular buildings from G.E. Capital, and a $2 million
pre-construction loan fund from the Enterprise Foundation).

 More than $1 million in new gifts was received in November alone,
including $350,000 from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), $150,000 from the
Olympics "Dream Team," and $20,000 from the Christian Science community.
The Rev. Dr. Albert Pennybacker, NCC Associate General Secretary for Income
Development and Interpretation, reported that an additional $475,000 has
been pledged but not yet received.

 Of the $10,131,586 total resources in hand, $8,778,723 (86.7 percent) is
budgeted for rebuilding and $1,352,863 (13.3 percent) for anti-racism
programs and program administration.  This is in line with the NCC's
consistent declaration that of all resources provided (including cash and
in-kind contributions), 85 percent is being allocated for reconstruction
and restoration of churches and 15 percent for programs to address racism
and for administration.  The budget incorporates the NCC's assessment of
needs and its commitment to respect donor designation.

 Dr. Pennybacker estimated that, including the $475,000 already pledged but
not yet received, an additional $2.5 to $3 million will need to be raised
to be able to complete "Phase One."  "At that point we will have spent $12
to $13 million, very close to our original projection that this would be a
$12 million project," he said.

 The Burned Churches Fund Grants Committee is seeking a date for a
face-to-face meeting in January or February, at which time it will seek to
complete "Phase One" and lay plans for "Phase Two."  The Center for
Democratic Renewal already has 44 more churches on its list for assessment
above and beyond the 124, said the Rev. Dr. Mac Charles Jones, NCC
Associate to the General Secretary for Racial Justice and Director of the
Burned Churches Project.

 On its conference call this evening, the Grants Committee also celebrated
an important symbolic victory - South Carolina Governor David Beasley's
recent call for the removal of the Confederate Flag from atop the State
Capitol Building.

The NCC, at its Oct. 24-26 "Emergency Conference on Racism" in Columbia,
S.C., added its voice to a long list of South Carolinians and others
demanding that the flag come down, calling it "the flag of white
supremacy." Commented the Rev. Dr. Joan B. Campbell, NCC General Secretary,
to the Grants Committee, "This governor, who was deadset against any
discussion about the flag, has now said he wants to implement removing the
flag."

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