c. 1998 Religion News Service

(Jim Wallis is an author, editor of Sojourners magazine, and a convenor of Call to Renewal, an alternative Christian political voice.)

UNDATED _ ‘Twas the season.

Even in the midst of busy holiday shopping, we Americans turned at least some of our attention to the plight of the needy. We contributed to charitable groups working with the poor while the media gave us heart-warming stories of turkeys and toys delivered to kids who would normally have neither.

But what now?

After the holiday season, we still face the very uncertain outcome of 1996 welfare reform legislation and its impact on society’s most vulnerable.

Some states are receiving rave reviews for their efforts at reducing welfare rolls and putting recipients to work.

In one western Michigan county, all 400-plus welfare families have moved into the work force, with churches playing a major role. While officials there are proud of what has been achieved, they readily admit conditions in the county are uniquely favorable _ a strong economy, plenty of jobs, and a solid Dutch Reformed Church tradition of caring for neighbors.

But what will happen to low-income families when they no longer receive government support for child care, transportation and medical care? When you ask church people in western Michigan, they shake their heads and remark sadly,”We’re still trying to figure that one out.” Even in a thriving economy, minimum-wage jobs are, in many cases, the only jobs available _ and even those are hard to come by. The U.S. Conference of Mayors recently reported 92 percent of the cities they surveyed reported insufficient entry level jobs to fill the federal and state welfare-to-work requirements. Those who have found employment so far in many ways represent the”cream”of the welfare rolls _ the easiest to put to work.

Perhaps the most hopeful development since the passage of new welfare legislation is the dramatic unity being forged between once-divided churches _ a union clearly brought about by the welfare crisis. Arguments among faith-based groups over welfare are being replaced by new collaborations to overcome persistent poverty.”The cold war between religious groups over the poor is over,”Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals said this fall at the second”Christian Roundtable”on poverty and welfare reform. Religious leaders representing many denominations, church-based service and development groups, and national religious organizations are slowly joining forces in the fight against poverty. For the first time in decades, evangelical, Catholic, mainline Protestant, Latino, and black church leaders are pursuing both common ground and concerted action.

The”charitable choice”provision of the 1996 welfare legislation _ which makes government-church partnerships easier than ever _ has drawn the endorsement of political leaders across the spectrum, from conservative Sen. Dan Coates, R-Ind., to liberal Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn. Yet after almost a year, charitable choice has yet to be seriously implemented.

But in a letter to all 50 governors sent late last year, leaders of the new Christian Roundtable called on the state leaders to meet with their state’s religious leaders to forge more effective government-church partnerships, including the implementation of charitable choice.

While most religious groups believe the separation of church and state is a critical foundation for American democracy, that essential doctrine needn’t deprive us of critical religious contributions to this crisis.

A new national database of successful faith-based projects, along with several regional clearinghouses, are being set up to assist local churches. Across the country, churches are offering the meeting ground for new civic projects and partnerships committed not just to alleviate the effects of poverty but to actually overcome it.

A new agenda _ which combines personal responsibility and moral values with a frontal assault on racism and poverty _ is showing itself to be increasingly successful.

Historically, religious communities have provided a powerful catalyst for social change but never before has such a diverse spectrum of groups from the religious left, right, and center come together.

Could this new coming together precede the coming together of the nation to deal with the persistent problem of poverty in America?

If so, for the most needy it would be a gift enduring well beyond Christmas.

MJP END WALLIS