wfn.org | Anti-racism initiative, other projects awarded Reconciliation grants

[wshuffit@oc.disciples.org]

 From nobody@wfn.org  Fri Oct  6 00:00:00 2000
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
Date: October 6, 2000
on the Web: http://www.disciples.org
E-mail: CWillis@oc.disciples.org

00b-52

	DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (DNS) -- The anti-racism/pro-reconciliation initiative
of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is among seven proposals
awarded more than $230,000 by the General Reconciliation Committee, meeting
here Sept. 21 - 22.

	"Many Members, One Table," the churchwide anti-racism project, received
$203,116 -- $67,106 of which was designated an emergency grant to fund the
work for the remainder of this year. The remaining $136,010 will support
the project during 2001. 

	Receiving $5,000 each are a Portland-based tenants' advocacy project and
two Knoxville, Tenn., initiatives -- a June workshop on dismantling racism
for a community group and an ongoing project to continue the Commission of
Religion in Appalachia's work at becoming an anti-racist multicultural
organization.

	Two Disciples congregations and a Wichita, Kan., organization also
received $5,000 grants. In a unique activity, First Christian Church, El
Dorado, Ark., is sponsoring a "Covenant Caravan." The interracial and
ecumenical project will send a youth group to Georgia to visit several
cultural sites and do volunteer work in Atlanta. Among the sites the group
will visit will be the Martin Luther King Center, the Jimmy Carter
Presidential Library, and Habitat for Humanity International. The group
will do extensive study on race relations prior to the trip.

	A Los Angeles-area Disciples congregation, Hollywood-Beverly Christian
Church, is sponsoring an after-school project that will provide homework
assistance and recreational activities for its "ethnically and racially
divided neighborhood."

	Wichita's Sunflower Community Action, Inc., will use its grant to help
redevelop the city's blighted McAdams neighborhood. The area, which was an
industrial district some 30 years ago, is now a predominantly African
American community.  

	In other action, the Rev. Ketty Santos, Jonesboro, Ga., was elected
chairperson of the General Reconciliation Committee. Named as co-chair was
Bill Sky, Tulsa, Okla.

	Other members of the committee are outgoing chairperson, Steve Allison,
Memphis; the Rev. Irvin Green, Maywood, Ill.; the Rev. Timothy Lee,
Torrance, Calif.; the Rev. Mary Alice Mulligan, Indianapolis; the Rev. Tom
Neal, Gordon, Ga., Georgia regional minister; Constance Nealey, Birmingham,
Ala.; Ruby Terry, Shaker Heights, Ohio; and the Rev. David Wu, Lexington,
Ky.

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