NEWS STORY: NAE urges churches to aid poor

c. 1997 Religion News Service ORLANDO, Fla. _ The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is calling on its denominations, congregations and individual members to respond to the nation’s new welfare-reform laws with increased aid programs for the poor.”The short-term impact of reductions in government programs of food, health care, and income assistance will likely be […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

ORLANDO, Fla. _ The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is calling on its denominations, congregations and individual members to respond to the nation’s new welfare-reform laws with increased aid programs for the poor.”The short-term impact of reductions in government programs of food, health care, and income assistance will likely be an increase in hunger and hopelessness in many of our communities,”said a resolution adopted by the evangelical umbrella organization Tuesday (March 4).”We challenge the Christian community to commit itself to model the sacrificial love of Christ by increasing its financial giving and personal involvement with the poor,”the resolution said.

The resolution, one of a number ranging from abortion to the truthfulness of the Bible adopted by the group during its annual meeting here March 4-6, comes at a time when many of the changes included in the welfare bill passed last year are beginning to be felt. On March 1, new regulations restricting food stamp benefits went into effect and restrictions on aid to immigrants and children with disabilities are still in the offing.


But the resolution voiced general support for reducing the role of the federal government in aiding the poor.”We have long maintained that many government programs, while meeting immediate needs, actually weaken families, destroy initiative and trap people in poverty,”it said.

Some advocates of the poor, however, have argued the reform bill could plunge an additional 2 million people into poverty, especially in the short-term between the end of benefits and the hoped-for beginning of employment. Others, however, dispute that contention.”I believe that’s a speculative assertion,”David Williams, a member of the NAE’s Social Action Commission and a representative of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, told the NAE plenary session.

Williams said he believes some programs that serve the needy end up with excess food while others do not have enough to meet the needs of their clients.”It may well be that in the longer term, these concerns will be taken care of,”responded the Rev. Cliff Christiansen, chairman of the NAE’s resolutions committee. But, he said,”there’s little question”some people will be affected in the short term.

At the suggestion of Bishop B.E. Underwood of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, the resolution’s wording was strengthened by citing examples of what churches”should”do, instead of what they”could”do, such as encouraging families to stay together and promoting individual responsibility.

Echoing a plea repeatedly made by President Clinton, the resolution calls on churches to help”at least one family or individual struggling with long-term unemployment to obtain productive, stable work.” The evangelicals also said they were encouraged by a provision of the reform legislation called”charitable choice,”which they said”correctly provides that faith-based programs … will be able to compete for government funding on an equal footing with programs which propose secular approaches.” Delegates to the annual meeting also passed a resolution condemning a controversial late-term abortion procedure, called by its opponents”partial-birth abortion.” The resolution urged Congress to adopt legislation banning such abortions and called on President Clinton to support such action. On Wednesday, Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., reintroduced legislation that would ban the procedure’s use. The White House had indicated Clinton will, as he did last year, veto the bill if it passes Congress.”Partial-birth abortion is a horrific medical procedure that takes the life of an unborn child in a way scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages,”the resolution said.”We appeal to President Clinton to support a ban on partial-birth abortion, not only in the third trimester but at any time, especially because the recent revelations of Ron Fitzsimmons … plainly demonstrate that the president was intentionally misled before his veto last year,”it said.

Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, last month told a medical newspaper he had lied when he said the controversial procedure is rarely used.

In other action, the delegates also approved a resolution strongly opposing physician-assisted suicide.”While we firmly believe in mercy and compassion, that belief does not give anyone license to play God,”the resolution said.”We believe there is a profound moral distinction between allowing a person to die, on the one hand, and killing on the other.” Two other resolutions, one declaring the church’s responsibility to prisoners, and another affirming the truthfulness of the Bible in a modern age, were also adopted by the delegates.


The NAE includes 48 member denominations, individuals from more than 20 additional denominations, and more than 250 unaffiliated ministries and educational institutions.

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