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	July 1, 2004 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 58

	"The government is on the same page as the churches when it
offers initiatives for faith-based organizations to reach people who are
hurting," said Barbara Below, who represented the Synod at the first
White House National Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
June 1 in Washington, D.C.

	Below, director of social-ministry organizations with LCMS World
Relief and Human Care, was one of 1,600 at the conference.

	"With the government, we share a common goal to provide services
to meet the needs of individuals," Below said. "But beyond that, the
president in this initiative states that we have a common understanding
that our faith-based organizations do something that government programs
can't and shouldn't do. We restore hope to people who are hurting,
desperate and in need. We demonstrate and offer a life-changing message
to people whose pain goes far deeper than any pocketbook can reach."

	"By feeding the hungry, by healing the addicted, by loving and
caring for refugees, you represent the true strength, the real strength,
the genuine strength of the United States of America," Bush told the
conference audience. "And I am grateful for what you do."

	Although legislation to give faith-based groups equal assess to
government grants has gotten bogged down in Congress, Bush signed an
executive order directing federal agencies to "reverse regulations that
discriminate against faith-based organizations," he explained.

	He said that last year federal agencies distributed $1.1 billion
in social-service grants to faith-based groups -- a 15 percent increase
over 2002.

	"Government can hand out money," Bush said. "But governments
cannot put love in a person's heart, or a sense of purpose in a person's
life."

	"President Bush says he acknowledges that the church does a
better job of caring than the government does," Below said. "Basically,
he has opened up the doors for the church -- for what he recognizes we
do best."

	For funding guidelines and other information about the White
House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, go to
www.fbci.gov <http://www.fbci.gov>  on the Web.

	***************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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