Poverty Unites Churches Groups Work Together To Meet Challenges Of New Welfare Law
Representatives from a broad spectrum of Christian organizations have put aside their political differences over welfare reform and have been meeting to discuss one goal that they have in common: ridding this country of poverty.
In Crystal City, Va., at a Christian round table Thursday, their second this year, representatives of more than 20 faith-based groups explored ways to work together to meet the challenges posed by last year’s welfare reform legislation, which ended six decades of federally guaranteed assistance to the nation’s poor.
The Christian leaders agreed to send a joint letter to all 50 state governors requesting information on how each state plans to implement federal changes in welfare programs, especially a new option that permits states to finance anti-poverty programs run by religious-based groups. They also decided to meet again early next year.
“It really felt like the birth of a new group,” said Carol Fennelly, a spokeswoman for Call to Renewal, a coalition of moderate to liberal Christian organizations that initiated the round-table discussions with more conservative groups. “The first meeting was important for people to come together and look each other in the eye.” At the second meeting, “real trust began to develop.”
The Renewal coalition, formed two years ago, seeks to offer an alternative to the religious right and its chief political action group, the Christian Coalition. The first round-table meeting took place in Philadelphia in April.
Call to Renewal also is sponsoring a two-day conference for church-based anti-poverty activists from across the country. They have gathered to swap information and experiences about fund-raising, working with corporations, mobilizing youth and new approaches to overcoming poverty.
The round table and the meeting among anti-poverty activists, both in Crystal City, come at a time when local governments increasingly are turning to religious and faith-based groups to help alleviate poverty and other social problems.
The groups attending the round table included the Salvation Army, the conservative Family Research Council, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the U.S. Catholic Conference, World Vision, the liberal National Council of Churches, and Bethel New Life Inc., which represents 3,000 Christian communities across the country.
“The Cold War among religious groups over the poor is over,” said the Rev. Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals, another round table participant. “We will not say we agree on policy and on what is justice. But what we are saying is that we are going to cooperate.”
Round-table participants heard reports from task forces formed at their first meeting to look for common ground on issues that divided them in the past, such as minimum wage levels, the earned income tax credit and school vouchers. They also discussed forging church partnerships with businesses and local governments to reduce poverty.
xxxx THE GROUP The Renewal coalition, formed two years ago, seeks to offer an alternative to the religious right and its chief political action group, the Christian Coalition.