c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ The Christian Coalition has decided to drop its year-old Samaritan Project, an effort to assist minority communities with faith-based solutions to social problems while rallying blacks and others to the coalition’s conservative causes.

As of Dec. 31, the project _ first announced in January _ will become an independent entity led by the Rev. Earl Jackson, who served as the group’s director while it was under the wing of the Christian Coalition.”It’s difficult to be heard as speaking with authenticity when you are speaking from an organization that is poorly perceived in black and minority communities,”said Jackson, adding that while he is”proud”of his connection with the coalition, he thinks the separation is best.

In fact, Jackson said he had recommended spinning off the project before the April announcement of the departure of Ralph Reed, the former coalition executive director.

The change in status for the Samaritan Project is part of a larger reorganization undertaken by coalition officials after watching revenues drop this year from a record high in 1996 of $26.5 million.

Arne Owens, spokesman for the conservative political advocacy group, compared the Samaritan Project’s independence to that of the Catholic Alliance, a lobbying group originally founded by the coalition but which became independent in the fall of 1996.”Like we did with the Catholic Alliance, we launched the Samaritan Project, we got it up and running and we believe it’s time for them to operate independently,”said Owens.”We believe that as an independent entity, it will be … more effective in building relationships with representatives of minority communities.” Owens said the Christian Coalition, founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and a key player in Republican Party politics at the national level as well as in a number of states, has seen some of the goals of the project included in proposed legislation, such as the American Community Renewal Act, and proposed changes in federal education policies and scholarship programs.

Officials of People for the American Way, a critic of the coalition, said the move shows the coalition was never really interested in helping minorities.”We knew that (coalition founder) Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed were more interested in collecting votes and allies for their conservative political agenda than in seeking economic justice and harmony among different racial groups,”said Carole Shields, president of the Washington-based watchdog of religious-right organizations.

However, coalition officials said the group remains committed to involving conservatives in efforts for racial justice and reconciliation.”I would never have been a part of an effort that was not serious,”Jackson said.”Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent. I was given a great deal of latitude, proving in my view, the seriousness of it.” But Jackson said it would be easier to accomplish the project’s goals of racial reconciliation and finding faith-based solutions to social problems without the misperceptions that came from being linked to the coalition’s conservative reputation.”It was perceived by many as a political ploy and that inhibited fund raising and made it … difficult to fulfill our mission as long as people were second-guessing our motives,”said Jackson, who will become president of the independent project.

Owens agreed there is a perception problem.”I think that there is a perception out there that’s perpetuated by white liberals and by some in the entrenched or established civil rights movement … that causes some to not take the coalition seriously about this issue and we believe that as we continue to speak out on these issues that they’ll be proven wrong,”he said.

The newly independent Samaritan Project will receive financial support from the coalition, but neither Jackson nor Owens would say how much.

Jackson will continue to serve as pastor of New Cornerstone Exodus Church in Boston and is starting to set up his own fund-raising operation for the project. He said the project would be based in Boston”for the time being,”but he hopes to move its headquarters to the Washington, D.C., area.

The Samaritan Project’s status is just one of several changes taking place at the Chesapeake, Va.-based coalition, including the layoff of 20 of its 100 staffers.

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In addition, the coalition has ended publication of its glossy magazine, the Christian American, and will focus on producing a newsletter and improving its Web site to communicate with supporters.

At the same time, however, the coalition has hired a third person to work as a lobbyist in Washington.

Owens would not disclose the amount of the decrease in revenues, but said they”have been trending down”throughout 1997.”That’s indicative of the fact that it’s a post-election year, economic times are good,”Owens said.”There’s not an awful lot of focus among Americans on politics at this point in time.” He argued the retrenching was a sign of the times for many organizations.”We’re not concerned about it,”he said.”We just view it as temporary.”

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