ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610210025
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
RICHMOND
DESPITE THEIR POLITICAL DIFFERENCES, the conservative, predominantly white coalition is seeking support from black Christians.
The Christian Coalition plans to invite black ministers to a national conference next spring to discuss areas of common interest.
"The focus will be on the breakup of the family and how we can create jobs and opportunities," Ralph Reed, executive director of the Chesapeake-based coalition, said Thursday. Reed said the meeting would be held in April in Baltimore, but added it was premature to give other details.
Although Reed said the focus of the meeting would not be entirely political, he said the coalition is hoping to enlist black support for many items in its conservative legislative agenda, including public support for private schools.
Reed made the announcement while visiting Richmond to hand out $25,000 checks to four black ministers whose churches were burned this year. Arson is suspected in each case.
The gifts were part of $750,000 the coalition has raised to help rebuild churches that have been set ablaze around the country this year. Reed said there have been 90 such fires, which he called "one of the most vicious assaults against the church of Jesus Christ in the history of this country."
Reed made the presentation in front of the Glorious Church of God in Christ in Richmond, which has been closed since February, when it suffered $600,000 in fire damage. The church was only partially insured. Reed also presented checks to two pastors from Texas and one from Oklahoma, who were flown in for the coalition's event.
While the coalition has been widely credited for its aid to black churches, it's an open question whether the predominantly white evangelical group founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson can forge lasting political ties with black ministers.
"It will be a tall order for the coalition," said Mark Rozell, a political scientist from American University who recently wrote a book on the Christian conservative movement.
Rozell noted that black ministers traditionally have been strongly aligned with the Democratic Party and supportive of governmental involvement in social welfare while coalition leaders have been aligned with the Republican Party and supportive of cuts in social spending.
Rozell said similar efforts by the coalition to interact with Catholics and Jews have not been successful.
"The coalition deserves credit for trying to reach out to other groups, but it's finding there are a lot of fundamental differences that are hard to overcome," Rozell said.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB