| Posted on Tue, Oct. 28, 2003 |  |
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Church to welcome Bush President to help dedicate new home for school, programs Star-Telegram Dallas Bureau
DALLAS - Tony Evans' zeal for faith-based programs runs so deep that he has traveled several times to the White House to share his ideas with President Bush. On Wednesday, Evans will welcome Bush to his house -- Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship -- to give the president a firsthand glimpse of how the church's community outreach program is making a difference. Bush will attend a dedication for a $23 million, 172,000-square-foot education and recreation center that will house the church's private school and provide more space for Project Turnaround, the initiative Evans founded. "I think it's meaningful he's coming to our church, especially in light of our new facility," said Evans, senior pastor of the 7,000-member predominantly black church and a well-known speaker and radio minister. "I'm also excited he's coming to Oak Cliff. Oftentimes, this community doesn't get that kind of equal emphasis and equal time." Jim Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, said Evans has been an influential voice for Bush regarding allowing religious groups to compete for government social-service grants. Bush heard a 1996 speech by Evans about the need for churches to address social needs that has been described in published accounts as sparking the president's interest in religious programs. "I think the president has drawn a lot of inspiration from Dr. Evans and his views of how social services can be effectively administered by faith-based groups," Towey said. "I think the president respects the fact that Dr. Evans isn't interested in rhetoric, he's interested in results." On Monday, workers in hard hats mingled with the White House advance team in business suits as the church hastily prepared the new building for the president's arrival. The president will tour the multipurpose center and attend a reception before giving a speech. Church members said they are excited that the president will help them dedicate the new building. "It's a historic event to be able to have the most powerful man in the world to come to this location to talk about faith-based initiatives," said La Fayette Holland, executive director of Project Turnaround. "The likelihood of that happening again is probably slim to none." He said the new building will help the church expand Project Turnaround, which works with more than 60 public schools in the Dallas area to provide students with mentoring and tutoring and encourage them to avoid drugs and gangs, stay in school and avoid sex. The program also offers job training, job placement and literacy classes for adults. It receives no government funding, and the church would have to carefully examine the effect of accepting such money because faith is a component of the program, Holland said. Critics say allowing church-affiliated organizations to get federal money violates the separation of church and state, and religious groups say it could inhibit them from sharing their faith. "If it will prohibit anything we are doing, we would have to turn that down," Holland said. Dallas resident Clara Sansom, 64, who was unable to read, said the literacy program has changed her life. She now can read the newspaper and the Bible and is still meeting each Monday with a Project Turnaround tutor. "That's my best day because I'm learning," she said. "I love it." Mary McKee, (972) 263-4448 mmckee@star-telegram.com |
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