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James (Terry) Edmonds' Files
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Speechwriting
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Terry Edmonds
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JAN 03 '97 03:40PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.2/10
TO: TERRY EDMONDS
FR: KEVIN SULLIVAN
Kar
RE: BREAKFAST WITH RELIGIOUS LEADERS
If you can find a way to make some reference to the work that the Secretary is doing
it would be helpful to our future endeavors with particular attention to items one and two..
1.) Summit Conferences between Educators and Religious leaders:
The Secretary has held two regional summit conferences between religious leaders and
public educators during the last year and plans to hold several more this year. To my knowledge
this is the first time that this has been done. These summits are part of our continuing effort to
bridge the gap between America's religious community and public education. Our first step to
overcome this gap came when we issued our religious guidelines at the direction of the President.
These conferences are a positive follow-up.
The first summit was held in New England and drew about two hundred leaders. The
second was held in Wilmington, Delaware. We hope to hold others in the South, the West and
the Midwest possibly Chicago in the coming year. As a result of these summits several
partnerships are beginning to form between public educators and different church communities in
Boston and Cambridge in Mass and West Hartford and New Haven in Conn in addition to
Wilmington. Much of the credit for helping to sponsor this effort goes to Bishop F. Herbert
Skeete in New England and Rev. Wesley Williams, both of whom represent the United Methodist
Church. It would be nice if you could mention them.
2.) Tutors for the President's "Reading Challenge."
We see the religious community as a great resource for our effort to recruit one million
volunteers to help us improve reading. The Secretary is going to recruit 20 to 25 religious leaders
to lead this effort in the next month and will meet with the Catholic Bishops on January 15th. It
would be helpful for the President to make the connection between the reading imitative and the
work that so many church groups now do in education. I am sending along a specific example of a
group of churches in Jackson, Tenn that are now involved in this effort that you could use as a
model.
JAN 03 '97 03:41PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.3/10
3.) Religion in Schools and Drugs
A few weeks ago when the story came out that marijuana use was up among 8th graders
for the 5th straight year Riley was at the press conference with McCaffery and Shalala. Riley
made the point that young people who were on the honor roll or who had a joined a bible club in
school were less likely to be into drugs. You might make some reference to this idea which allows
you make a mention of the religious guidelines that we issued in 1995. Clinton mentioned them at
the 1995 breakfast but all the President has to say is that they seem to working well. The
Secretary said that the head of the National Association of Evangelicals came up to Clinton at
Hilton Head and told the President that those guidelines were the most important thing he had
done in the first term.
4. Aguilar V. Felton (FYI)
The President is supporting the effort by New York City to over turn the 1986 Supreme
Court ruling in Aguilar v.Felton that restricts how we provide Title I services to poor kids in
parochial schools. Last October the Justice Department filed a petition for a " writ of
certorari with the Supreme Court on behalf of the Secretary in support of NYC asking the Court
to hear the case. This case has great meaning for Catholics community as well as for
Aguduth Israel and Lutherans. It may not be appropriate to get this detailed in his remarks but
any mention of Aguilar will resonate with the Catholic bishops who are in attendance.
T. There is also a quate from
Proverbs That you cauld use That
we ended The speech with N
am page 5 K.
JAN
03
'97
03:41PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.4/10
Reach out and Read Program, Boston City Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Kathleen Fitzgerald Rice, Co-Director (617) 534-4765 or
Perri Klass, Co-Director (617) 534-5701
Physicians at Boston City Hospital saw both the need and the opportunity to work on literacy with
their patients, namely young children from impoverished families. In 1989 they launched the
Reach Out and Read Program to meet those needs by integrating literacy development into regular
pediatric care for children ages 6 months to 6 years. The Reach Out and Read Program is co-
directed by a pediatrician and early childhood educators and has three components. In the clinic
waiting room, community volunteers read to the children, engaging their interest while modeling
book-related interactions for the parents. In the examining room, the doctor looks at a book with
the child, assessing the child's developmental progress and sharing it with the parent present. At
the end of the visit, the child receives a new book to take home. This gift conveys the importance
of reading to both the child and the parent. ROR has big plans to expand their project, first to 10
other Boston area neighborhood health centers and then nationwide. A parent commented on the
program's effect on her daughter: "I know that by keeping her nose in books, she's going to be a
reader. If she's a reader, she could be a writer. She could be a doctor. She could be anything!"
Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program, Cabrini-green Housing Development, Chicago, Illinois
Phoebe Zoe Kessler, Program Coordinator (312) 467-4980
The only one-to-one scholastic tutoring organization working with young kids in the Cabrini-Green
area, it serves 500 kids a week and has 480 volunteer tutors. The program operates three nights
each week from 5:30-7pm. Kids are tutored for grades K-6, then graduate and can become Junior
Assistants who help volunteers and program staff, peer-tutor younger kids, and help run the library,
art, and resource areas. All tutors are volunteers and most are professionals who work in nearby
downtown Chicago. Parents also volunteer in the program. All tutors go through a training and
orientation session, take a tour of the program, speak with program coordinators and veteran tutors
before beginning work, and attend three additional workshops each year. Through its 2-year
relationship with Reading is Fundamental, the program distributes books for the kids, tailored to
their individual tastes, to take home and to keep. Books are also distributed in conjunction with
other events. The program is 31 years old, and its participants often bridge generations of the same
families.
All funding is private and the program relies heavily upon donations. Last year, for example,
Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls ran a RIF fund-raiser for the program which raised $40,000
that is paying for 2 new computers and a library up-grade. The program has only two paid staff
members, with the rest of the costs arising from school supplies, buses for field trips, nightly
snacks, and other needed materials.
Jackson, Tennessee Tutoring Program
Jim England (901) 427-9666
In Jackson, Tennessee, 10 churches have already joined forces with 11 public housing projects to
16
JAN 03 '97 03:42PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.5/10
JACKSON CHURCH Tutorus
ensure the reading success of the city's children. Currently, 250 church members futor 350
children, mostly elementary students, throughout the city. While the churches design their own
programs in accord with their talents and physical facilities, all of the students have progress charts
that follow them from church to church as they move. Volunteers use the local district's "Lesson
Line" to communicate with teachers, parents, and other tutors and coordinate with the school
during the school year. Among those pitching in are local supermarkets and businesses who have
shown their support by donating food for the program. According to one of the organizers, the
program is entirely volunteer and the cost is negligible, Many students and families report that this
tutoring program has made a major difference in their lives. Because of the project's initial
success, 12 other churches are joining the project in the coming year.
Pilot Tutoring Programs, Cambridge Massachusetts
Jerome Kagan, Professor, Harvard University (617) 495-3870
In this pilot tutoring program, senior citizen volunteers, many of them former teachers, tutor at-risk
first graders three times a week in forty-five minute sessions - with significant results. Paid, early
childhood educators provided tutors with training, prior to and during their service. Through daily
tutor logs, training sessions, and tutor observation, the educator trainers worked closely with the
tutors. Tutors made a special effort to assess initially the skills, needs, and talents of their students,
a diverse group of African Americans, Whites, Haitians, and Asians. One of the student's
classroom teachers remarked: "[The student's] frustration level changed, he learned to focus, how
to handle a book, felt he was a reader, learned he is an okay kid, learned beginning skills and to like
books." The program showed significant results on the reading of both words and text. Sixty three
percent of the tutored students showed major gains in reading text compared with only 30 percent
of the control group; 63 percent of the tutored students gained in a major way in reading words
compared with 10 percent of the control groups. The program was equally effective for children
who spoke English as their first language and bilingual children learning to read English.
Early Identification Program, Reading Community City School District, Reading, Ohio
Bob Stark, Coordinator of Special Services, Cincinnati, Ohio (513) 483-6739
51 trained parent volunteers work one-on-one with 79 kindergartners, over half of the
kindergartners in the district, who enter the program based on measurements of their pre-literacy
skills as well as the recommendations of their teachers and parents. During the 1995-1996 school
year, scores of students participating in the program increased 29.8 points in visual perception, 19.2
points in fine motor skills, and 19.3 points in basic language concepts. In contrast, students not
participating in the program had gains of 5.4 in visual perception, .3 in fine motor skills, and 7.4 in
basic language concepts. Since its inception in 1987, the program has served 871 children with
9,425 hours of volunteer service. Tutors and students meet four times a week in personal sessions
that make use of a variety of methods intended to build pre-literacy skills. This program seeks to
set the foundations for literacy before these at-risk students fall behind in their reading skills.
Teachers note that by the end of the kindergarten year, the academic performance of program
participants nearly matches that of the children who did not participate in the program.
17
JAN 03 '97 03:42PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.6/10
REMARKS OF
RICHARD W. RILEY
U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
RELIGIOUS & EDUCATION SUMMIT
Wilmington, Delaware
July 29, 1996
Good morning. It is a great pleasure to be here with you. I want to thank Mayor Sills for his
kindness in extending to us such a warm welcome. And I want to thank all of you -- the
participants -- for attending as well.
In many ways this effort to bring religious leaders and educators together is something new for
American education. For most of our lives the relationship between America's educators and
America's religious community has been distant. Today, we seek to change that way of thinking.
This is what this conference is all about -- to recognize that the many faith communities
represented here today are a great "untapped resource" that we need to move American education
forward. Here it might be important to give you a little history. How did this all begin?
The story begins appropriately enough with a teacher. I have on my staff a former national
teacher of the year -- Terry Dozier. Terry is from my home state of South Carolina. I persuaded
her just a few months after she and her husband Mark had bought a new house to pull up stakes
and come to Washington as one of my advisors. I wanted someone on my staff with real
day-to-day class room experience.
So Terry came and in her usual way she got busy. She created a forum for teachers all across
America who had been recognized as the best in their state. One of those teachers was a teacher
from Massachusetts named Stephen Levy, who sent Terry a letter in the Spring of 1993.
Stephen, a member of a conservative Christian church, had come to recognize that there was a
growing division between many members of his congregation and public educators. There was a
growing sense of distrust -- a very real disconnection. Three weeks later we invited Stephen and
seven other religiously minded teachers to come to Washington and visit with us.
1. The Secretary may depart from prepared remarks
JAN 03 '97 03:43PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.7/10
2
In addition, we invited religious leaders from many different faiths -- Protestant, Catholic, and
Jewish -- conservative and mainline - orthodox and liberal -- to help us think about what we
could do to overcome this sense of distrust and -- at the same time -- what we could do together
to help the American family.
We wanted these religious leaders to be full participants at the very start of our efforts to create a
family involvement partnership for learning. In your packets you see one of the first fruits of that
effort -- a joint statement of Common Purpose drafted by 33 religious leaders in December of
1994.
Since that time we have worked very hard to overcome the division and sometimes the confusion
- that too often has defined the relationship between religious minded Americans and public
education. This work has taken many different forms.
Our Partnership for Family Involvement now includes over 700 organizations and we have a
very strong focus on improving literacy. This summer, we have enlisted 300,000 adult and youth
mentors in an ongoing effort to help one million children to keep up their reading skills. This fall
we are encouraging parents, civic organizations, religious denominations, and businesses to go
back to school to reconnect with their local school to find a way to help all of our children
learn.
We are asking individuals and groups to work with their local neighborhood school to help young
people in four specific areas reading, technology, providing safe-after school activities and
preparing young people for college through extra tutoring.
I am also asking you to encourage parents to find an extra 30 minutes a day to read with their
children and check their homework. If parents did that every day it would revolutionize American
education. This is in many ways my sermon -- if we can help parents slow down their lives - if
we can give parents time off from the time crunch of modern living -- if we can give families,
guardians and grandparents the extra support they need to raise their children right -- to keep
them away from drugs, smoking, and the violence of TV -- we would be a better country and
provide a more promising future for all of our young people.
In addition, we are working with other groups most notably the American Association of
School Administrators, the National PTA and the Freedom Forum -- to define a new common
ground. So they had come together to put out a statement on what they could agree on when it
came to religion in the schools. This was not an easy task. It took them months of effort. And it
took another two months as we worked together to bring other denominations into the group.
But their good work laid the ground work for President Clinton's decision to go forward and
release guidelines on religion in public schools last year. Now, a year later I believe that these
religious guidelines are starting to change the landscape and tone of the public debate about
prayer in school.
JAN 03 '97 03:43PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.8/10
3
Many more Americans now realize that the religious rights of students do not stop at the school
house door. Young people can say grace before lunch, join a Bible Club, read their Bible during
study hall, meet at the "flagpole" before school, and wear religious symbols on their clothing. At
the same time, we want it to be very clear that the First Amendment continues to protect the
rights of minority religions -- and even the rights of those who choose to have no faith -- to make
sure that no student becomes a "captive audience."
Many of these rights are summarized in the green colored brochure that some of you may have
picked up called, " A Parents Guide to Religion in Public Schools." Yes, there are still some
unsettled issues like prayer at graduation ceremonies. The Supreme Court has yet to speak on
this issue and the lower courts remain divided. And, yes, there is still a division over whether we
should have a Constitutional Amendment on school prayer.
I do not believe that we should tamper with the First Amendment -- we have never ever changed
the Bill of Rights in our history and I see no reason to change it now. We are the most religious
free nation in the world because of the First Amendment. Others disagree with my opinion and
that is the way it should be in our democracy.
But I believe -- that even in our disagreements -- there is new and growing tone of civility. And
that's good for America and good for public education. Our public schools should not be the
public space for a war on values. When you put schools in the middle, education loses.
This is why I am encouraged when people of faith reach out to each other and act on their faith
and help us to raise our children. President Clinton may have said it best when he said,
"Don't you believe that if every kid in every difficult neighborhood in America were in a
religious institution on weekends -- the Synagogue on Saturday, a church on Sunday, or at a
mosque to say their daily prayers --don't you really believe that the drug rate, the crime rate, the
violence rate, the rate of self-destruction -- would go way down and the character of this country
would go way up?"
Well, I believe the President has it about right. There is a great deal that can be done to involve
our faith communities in helping our children and their parents. Many of you come from faith
communities that have a long tradition of encouraging learning and helping families cope.
Mormons often have a "family night" one day of the week. Many Roman Catholics parishes have
kept their inner city schools open at great costs.
And I am greatly encouraged by the decision of my own faith -- the United Methodists -- to
endorse a statement of principles entitled Education: the Gift of Hope, To its credit, Education:
the Gift of Hope recognizes that one of the core problems we confront in American education is
one of expectations. The fallacy that your potential is based on your parents income, your native
language, or your race remains one of the great enduring impediments to the progress of
American education.
JAN 03 '97 03:44PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.9/10
4
Here a story may be in order. Last year I attended a conference in California organized by a
church and community based organization called PICO. The group had been founded by a
Catholic priest but it was very much a grass-roots and inter-denominational effort dedicated to
social action and economic justice.
This conference was attended by over 2,500 delegates representing 250,000 parishioners. These
were working class people. Average folk trying to make a living. These delegates had done the
hard work of going door-t We want all parents to know that their religious values are protected
and honored in the public space that is public education. As I said earlier, a great deal of
suspicion has grown up among conservative Christians on the role of public schools. They had
come to believe that public education was "hostile" to religion, and that their values were not
respected. And in some cases they were right.
Some educators had come to the conclusion that the best way to interpret the First Amendment's
concerns about the separation of church and state was to avoid the issue of religion altogether.
At the same time, many educators felt under siege. And after thirty years of not understanding
each other on the issue of school prayer just about everybody was confused.
When we first set out to develop the President's guidelines on religion in public schools I met
with a group of litigators. Conservative and liberal, groups as diverse as the National Association
of Evangelicals, the American Jewish Congress, the Christian Legal Society and the ACLU.
These lawyers were something of an odd group. One of the participants in the meeting told me
that after so many years of litigating against each other over school prayer they had become
"institutionally paranoid." Yet, there was a sense of fellowship about them even though they were
always on opposite sides in the court room. They knew that more litigation was the wrong way
to go. o-door, family to family, asking people about their deepest concerns. The overwhelming
conclusion was a deep desire for a better education for their children.
They wanted their children to learn real life skills -- to be able to make the transition from school-
to-work with some hope of future economic security. But nothing was more moving to me then
the speech of a mother who got up in tears and told the delegates that expectations were
everything.
This seems to be a growing trend and it is a trend that I want to encourage. Last March, Bishop
F. Hebert Skeete of the United Methodist Church and the Rev. Wesley Williams -- who is with us
today -- organized a New England Summit of religious leaders and educators.
I had the good fortune to attend the conference. You have to be inspired when 200 people show
up the day after a blizzard. Where I come from in South Carolina we wouldn't even get out of
our beds if we saw that much snow. The goal of the New England conference was summed up
very neatly by one of the participants who said this, " there is a place in the church for education,
and a place for religion in the school."
JAN 03 '97 03:44PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.10/10
5
And that in a nutshell defines why we are here today. To find a place in the church for education
and a place for religion in the school. To find the common ground that will allow us to come
together as religious leaders and educators to help our children. And I can tell you that it can
make a difference and so many of you are already making that difference now.
Individual denominations are adopting public schools. Churches and synagogues are holding
tutoring classes and finding mentors for young people. Some faith communities are making their
buildings "safe havens" for young people after school to keep them out of harm's way.
This is important work and so very needed. This coming September we will more young people
in our nation's school than any time in American history -- 51.7 million. Demographers call this
the baby-boom echo and over the next ten years this growth rate is not going to stop.
In the next ten years, we are going to have to educate an additional 2.9 million children. That's a
lot of children and a great majority of these young people will be teenagers. Young people who
have to worry about drugs, violence, AIDS, smoking and in some cases -- just staying alive. So
we need your help.
I urge you, then, as church leaders to work with the parents in your own denominations -- to
inspire them to find that extra 30 minutes to help their children learn. It is so important. Help
them give their children the character and the fortitude to be good citizens -- to live their values
each and every day - and to expand their minds.
As educators I encourage you to see these faith communities for what they are -- as a great
untapped resource that can do so much good for American education. For we all have a common
purpose. As it is said in Proverbs 22:6 "Train children in the right way, and when old, they will
not stray."
Thank you.
12-31-1996 29PM
FROM MARY LINDA WARD 501 396 3314
P.2
Dear Terry,
Thank you for the opportunity to submit some thoughts to you. I am jotting down some
random thoughts for you, not in any good order. I wanted to get them to you. I will continue to
think IfI have hit on anything of interest, I would be happy to continue to try to "flesh" it out
more for you.
First point about urgency and responsibility. (Referred to in Neh. comments).
Second point about role of government. If President continues to use idea of bridge, he
could play off the fact that a bridge must be stable, secure, etc. The point of the bridge, however,
is to give access, opportunity for people to cross. The government is not unlike that. It is see
that our citizens have access.
A biblical example is seen in Nehemiah. It really is applicable to all the points you made
to me. In Chapter 4:6, "So built we the wall for the people had a mind to work." In face of
opposition the people, "made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and
night 4:9. "For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded."
4:18.
These scripture references apply to the point of urgency and responsibility: they had a
mind to work; to mission in world: set a watch, pray, work but secure in that the sword was ever
present. This speaks to our role in the world.
Here is a quote from one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s messages, "Human life through
the centuries has been characterized by man's persistent efforts to remove evil from the earth.
Seldom has man thoroughly adjusted himself to evil, for in spite of his rationalizations,
compromises and alibis, he knows the "is" is not the "ought" and the actual is not the possible."
From sermon entitled, "The Answer to a Perplexing Question."
I think this is what the President is attempting to challenge America to do to move
from what "is" to what "ought" to be, from the actual to the possible. Some talking points in this
vein could be:
*goodness of Americans
*greatness of armed forces
*grace and mercy of God
The President could frame remarks under "Seeing the Present (what is), Seizing the
Possible (ought)"
I'll continue to think!
Sincerely,
Rex Home
12-31-1996 29PM
FROM MARY LINDA WARD 501 396 3314
P.2
Dear Terry,
Thank you for the opportunity to submit some thoughts to you. I am jotting down some
random thoughts for you, not in any good order. I wanted to get them to you. I will continue to
think. IfI have hit on anything of interest, I would be happy to continue to try to "flesh" it out
more for you.
First point about urgency and responsibility. (Referred to in Neh. comments).
Second point about role of government. If President continues to use idea of bridge, he
could play off the fact that a bridge must be stable, secure, etc. The point of the bridge, however,
is to give access, opportunity for people to cross. The government is not unlike that. It is see
that our citizens have access.
A biblical example is seen in Nehemiah. It really is applicable to all the points you made
to me. In Chapter 4:6, "So built we the wall for the people had a mind to work." In face of
opposition the people, "made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and
night " 4:9. "For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded."
4:18.
These scripture references apply to the point of urgency and responsibility: they had a
mind to work; to mission in world: set a watch, pray, work but secure in that the sword was ever
present. This speaks to our role in the world.
Here is a quote from one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s messages, "Human life through
the centuries has been characterized by man's persistent efforts to remove evil from the earth.
Seldom has man thoroughly adjusted himself to evil, for in spite of his rationalizations,
compromises and alibis, he knows the "is" is not the "ought" and the actual is not the possible."
From sermon entitled, "The Answer to a Perplexing Question."
I think this is what the President is attempting to challenge America to do to move
from what "is" to what "ought" to be, from the actual to the possible. Some talking points in this
vein could be:
*goodness of Americans
*greatness of armed forces
*grace and mercy of God
The President could frame remarks under "Seeing the Present (what is), Seizing the
Possible (ought)"
I'll continue to think!
Sincerely,
Rex Home
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
ANNUAL ECUMENICAL BREAKFAST
THE WHITE HOUSE
JANUARY 6, 1997
Acknowledgments: Vice President Gore, Secretary Riley, Tipper and Hillary
Good morning and welcome to the White House. I want to thank all of you for the gift of
your presence here today, and for the gift of your example and service to all mankind. It is
fitting that you come bearing those gifts today, because today is the celebration of
Epiphany in the Christian faith -- the day the Magi came bearing gifts to the new born king.
The Responsibility we all bear. Today, I want to talk about the responsibility we all bear
for keeping the promise of America alive for all our children. This is a moment of great
promise and opportunity for our country. We are beginning this new year stronger and
more prosperous than ever before in our history. And the American people are coming
together around our basic values: opportunity for all, responsibility from all, and a renewed
sense of community. But we face a whole host of challenges as we prepare to enter a new
century.
My thoughts about preparing America for the 21st century. In the weeks since the
election, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what we must all do together to prepare
our nation and our children to succeed in the 2 st century. Regardless of party or race or
religion, all Americans have a stake in a strong America. And all Americans must do their
part to keep us strong. We must keep the promise of America alive for our children by
working together to improve education and opening the doors of college for more of our
people. We must make sure that every American shares in the bounty of our great land by
each doing our part to bring opportunity and hope to people and places that have only
known poverty and despair. We must make sure our communities are havens of peace, not
minefields of crime by working together to root out evil and plant goodness in its place.
And we must make sure our dream of freedom continues to spread across the world,
through our constant prayer and vigilance.
Two weeks from today, I will be sworn in as President for the second time. I want to
spend that time continuing my dialogue with the American people about how we must
meet the challenges of a new century. As I prepare to begin my second term as the last
President of the 20th century, 1 will also be meeting with members of my Cabinet and
Administration to lay out our plans and priorities. But, more than anything, I want to
emphasize that government cannot and should not solve all these problems alone. As I
have said before, my job doesn't end here at the White House -- it begins here. The
challenges that lie before us will not be conquered in the halls of government, but in the
town halls and halls of learning and houses of worship that have always been the
birthplaces of progress in America. Some people say we need a kind of Marshall Plan -- a
huge top-down spending spree to solve our vexing problems. I disagree. America doesn't
need a Marshall Plan. America needs a plan to marshal our love, our talents, and our
energies -- each citizen doing their part to solve our common problems.
You have a special responsibility. We all have a responsibility to teach our children right
from wrong to show our people the virtue of work to help build strong families and safe
communities and to lift up the spirit, hope and faith of the American people in
themselves. But, in all this, you have a responsibility like no other. Just as I am calling on
leaders in leaders in business and education and public policy to do their part in preparing
our country for the 21st century, I will be calling on all of you to share your special gifts in
this endeavor.
Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about the urgency of working together. It humbles me
to know that I will be sworn-in for the second time on the day we have set aside as a nation
to honor this century's great drum major for justice, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We must
all remember what Dr. King said: "Together, we must learn to live together as [sisters and]
brothers, or together we will perish as fools."
The long journey of America's greatness. Just as we remember the lessons of Martin
Luther King, so should we pause to reflect on the lessons of other great icons of the 20th
century: Washington and Lincoln and Jefferson and Franklin Roosevelt. While there was a
wide diversity of principle and philosophy among them, there was a unity of purpose to
move America forward, to make it a place of opportunity for all its people, and to keep it
the greatest force for peace and freedom in the world. In closing, I think of the words of
Paul talking about the great ancestors of the church. He said, "Wherefore seeing we also
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before
us." [Hebrews 12:1] As we go forward on our long journey of greatness, we may have our
differences. But let us lay aside that weight so that with patience we can run the race that
is set before us.
Thank you and God bless you all.
We must not take this call to community lightly. If we want to ensure a better future for
our children and our nation, we must commit ourselves to working together across all the
lines that would divide us. I am reminded of the words of this century's great drum major
for justice, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on whose birthday I shall take the oath of office.
Dr. King said: "Together, we must learn to live as brothers, or together, we will perish
together as fools."
In closing, as I look out at this great sea of spiritual diversity, I know that, whatever your
differences, you are all united in the cause of peace and freedom and service to our
country. We must not squander this opportunity. Let us be guided by the words of Paul
talking of the great leaders of the church. He said, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by
such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so
easily entangles, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." [Hebrew 12:1]
Thank you and God bless you all.
03 '97 06:28PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.1/10
GAKATION ICATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION #2
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JAN 03 '97 06:28PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.2/10
TO: TERRY EDMONDS
FR: KEVIN SULLIVAN
Keer
RE: BREAKFAST WITH RELIGIOUS LEADERS
If you can find a way to make some reference to the work that the Secretary is doing
it would be helpful to our future endeavors with particular attention to items one and two..
1.) Summit Conferences between Educators and Religious leaders:
The Secretary has held two regional summit conferences between religious leaders and
public educators during the last year and plans to hold several more this year. To my knowledge
this is the first time that this has been done. These summits are part of our continuing effort to
bridge the gap between America's religious community and public education. Our first step to
overcome this gap came when we issued our religious guidelines at the direction of the President.
These conferences are a positive follow-up.
The first summit was held in New England and drew about two hundred leaders. The
second was held in Wilmington, Delaware. We hope to hold others in the South, the West and
the Midwest possibly Chicago in the coming year. As a result of these summits several
partnerships are beginning to form between public educators and different church communities in
Boston and Cambridge in Mass and West Hartford and New Haven in Conn in addition to
Wilmington. Much of the credit for helping to sponsor this effort goes to Bishop F. Herbert
Skeete in New England and Rev. Wesley Williams, both of whom represent the United Methodist
Church. It would be nice if you could mention them.
2.) Tutors for the President's "Reading Challenge."
We see the religious community as a great resource for our effort to recruit one million
volunteers to help us improve reading. The Secretary is going to recruit 20 to 25 religious leaders
to lead this effort in the next month and will meet with the Catholic Bishops on January 15th. It
would be helpful for the President to make the connection between the reading imitative and the
work that so many church groups now do in education. I am sending along a specific example of a
group of churches in Jackson, Tenn that are now involved in this effort that you could use as a
model.
JAN 03 '97 06:28PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.3/10
3.) Religion in Schools and Drugs
A few weeks ago when the story came out that marijuana use was up among 8th graders
for the 5th straight year Riley was at the press conference with McCaffery and Shalala. Riley
made the point that young people who were on the honor roll or who had a joined a bible club in
school were less likely to be into drugs. You might make some reference to this idea which allows
you make a mention of the religious guidelines that we issued in 1995. Clinton mentioned them at
the 1995 breakfast but all the President has to say is that they seem to working well. The
Secretary said that the head of the National Association of Evangelicals came up to Clinton at
Hilton Head and told the President that those guidelines were the most important thing he had
done in the first term.
4. Aguilar V. Felton (FYI)
The President is supporting the effort by New York City to over turn the 1986 Supreme
Court ruling in Aguilar v.Felton that restricts how we provide Title I services to poor kids in
parochial schools. Last October the Justice Department filed a petition for a " writ of
certorari with the Supreme Court on behalf of the Secretary in support of NYC asking the Court
to hear the case. This case has great meaning for Catholics community as well as for
Aguduth Israel and Lutherans. It may not be appropriate to get this detailed in his remarks but
any mention of Aguilar will resonate with the Catholic bishops who are in attendance.
T. There is also a quate from
Proverbs That you carld use That
we ended The speech with N
an page 5 K.
JAN
03
'97
06:29PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.4/10
Reach out and Read Program, Boston City Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Kathleen Fitzgerald Rice, Co-Director (617) 534-4765 or
Perri Klass, Co-Director (617) 534-5701
Physicians at Boston City Hospital saw both the need and the opportunity to work on literacy with
their patients, namely young children from impoverished families. In 1989 they launched the
Reach Out and Read Program to meet those needs by integrating literacy development into regular
pediatric care for children ages 6 months to 6 years. The Reach Out and Read Program is co-
directed by a pediatrician and early childhood educators and has three components. In the clinic
waiting room, community volunteers read to the children, engaging their interest while modeling
book-related interactions for the parents. In the examining room, the doctor looks at a book with
the child, assessing the child's developmental progress and sharing it with the parent present. At
the end of the visit, the child receives a new book to take home. This gift conveys the importance
of reading to both the child and the parent. ROR has big plans to expand their project, first to 10
other Boston area neighborhood health centers and then nationwide. A parent commented on the
program's effect on her daughter: "I know that by keeping her nose in books, she's going to be a
reader. If she's a reader, she could be a writer. She could be a doctor. She could be anything!"
Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program, Cabrini-green Housing Development, Chicago, Illinois
Phoebe Zoe Kessler, Program Coordinator (312) 467-4980
The only one-to-one scholastic tutoring organization working with young kids in the Cabrini-Green
area, it serves 500 kids a week and has 480 volunteer tutors. The program operates three nights
each week from 5:30-7pm. Kids are tutored for grades K-6, then graduate and can become Junior
Assistants who help volunteers and program staff, peer-tutor younger kids, and help run the library,
art, and resource areas. All tutors are volunteers and most are professionals who work in nearby
downtown Chicago. Parents also volunteer in the program. All rytors go through a training and
orientation session, take a tour of the program, speak with program coordinators and veteran tutors
before beginning work, and attend three additional workshops each year. Through its 2-year
relationship with Reading is Fundamental, the program distributes books for the kids, tailored to
their individual tastes, to take home and to keep. Books are also distributed in conjunction with
other events. The program is 31 years old, and its participants often bridge generations of the same
families.
All funding is private and the program relies heavily upon donations. Last year, for example,
Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls ran a RIF fund-raiser for the program which raised $40,000
that is paying for 2 new computers and a library up-grade. The program has only two paid staff
members, with the rest of the costs arising from school supplies, buses for field trips, nightly
snacks, and other needed materials.
*
Jackson, Tennessee Tutoring Program
Jim England (901) 427-9666
In Jackson, Tennessee, 10 churches have already joined forces with 11 public housing projects to
16
JAN 03 '97 29PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.5/10
JACKSON CHURCH Tutorus
ensure the reading success of the city's children. Currently, 250 church members tutor 350
children, mostly elementary students, throughout the city. While the churches design their own
programs in accord with their talents and physical facilities, all of the students have progress charts
that follow them from church to church as they move. Volunteers use the local district's "Lesson
Line" to communicate with teachers, parents, and other tutors and coordinate with the school
during the school year. Among those pitching in are local supermarkets and businesses who have
shown their support by donating food for the program. According to one of the organizers, the
program is entirely volunteer and the cost is negligible. Many students and families report that this
tutoring program has made a major difference in their lives. Because of the project's initial
success, 12 other churches are joining the project in the coming year.
Pilot Tutoring Programs, Cambridge Massachusetts
Jerome Kagan, Professor, Harvard University (617) 495-3870
In this pilot tutoring program, senior citizen volunteers, many of them former teachers, tutor at-risk
first graders three times a week in forty-five minute sessions - with significant results. Paid, early
childhood educators provided tutors with training, prior to and during their service. Through daily
tutor logs, training sessions, and tutor observation, the educator trainers worked closely with the
tutors. Tutors made a special effort to assess initially the skills, needs, and talents of their students,
a diverse group of African Americans, Whites, Haitians, and Asians. One of the student's
classroom teachers remarked: "[The student's] frustration level changed, he learned to focus, how
to handle a book, felt he was a reader, learned he is an okay kid, learned beginning skills and to like
books." The program showed significant results on the reading of both words and text. Sixty three
percent of the tutored students showed major gains in reading text compared with only 30 percent
of the control group; 63 percent of the tutored students gained in a major way in reading words
compared with 10 percent of the control groups. The program was equally effective for children
who spoke English as their first language and bilingual children learning to read English.
Early Identification Program, Reading Community City School District, Reading, Ohio
Bob Stark, Coordinator of Special Services, Cincinnati, Ohio (513) 483-6739
51 trained parent volunteers work one-on-one with 79 kindergartners, over half of the
kindergartners in the district, who enter the program based on measurements of their pre-literacy
skills as well as the recommendations of their teachers and parents. During the 1995-1996 school
year, scores of students participating in the program increased 29.8 points in visual perception, 19.2
points in fine motor skills, and 19.3 points in basic language concepts. In contrast, students not
participating in the program had gains of 5.4 in visual perception, .3 in fine motor skills, and 7.4 in
basic language concepts. Since its inception in 1987, the program has served 871 children with
9,425 hours of volunteer service. Tutors and students meet four times a week in personal sessions
that make use of a variety of methods intended to build pre-literacy skills. This program seeks to
set the foundations for literacy before these at-risk students fall behind in their reading skills.
Teachers note that by the end of the kindergarten year, the academic performance of program
participants nearly matches that of the children who did not participate in the program.
17
JAN 03 '97 06:30PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.6/10
REMARKS OF
RICHARD W. RILEY
U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
RELIGIOUS & EDUCATION SUMMIT
Wilmington, Delaware
July 29, 1996
Good morning. It is a great pleasure to be here with you. I want to thank Mayor Sills for his
kindness in extending to us such a warm welcome. And I want to thank all of you -- the
participants -- for attending as well.
In many ways this effort to bring religious leaders and educators together is something new for
American education. For most of our lives the relationship between America's educators and
America's religious community has been distant. Today, we seek to change that way of thinking.
This is what this conference is all about -- to recognize that the many faith communities
represented here today are a great "untapped resource" that we need to move American education
forward. Here it might be important to give you a little history. How did this all begin?
The story begins appropriately enough with a teacher. I have on my staff a former national
teacher of the year -- Terry Dozier. Terry is from my home state of South Carolina. I persuaded
her just a few months after she and her husband Mark had bought a new house to pull up stakes
and come to Washington as one of my advisors. I wanted someone on my staff with real
day-to-day class room experience.
So Terry came and in her usual way she got busy. She created a forum for teachers all across
America who had been recognized as the best in their state. One of those teachers was a teacher
from Massachusetts named Stephen Levy, who sent Terry a letter in the Spring of 1993.
Stephen, a member of a conservative Christian church, had come to recognize that there was a
growing division between many members of his congregation and public educators. There was a
growing sense of distrust -- a very real disconnection. Three weeks later we invited Stephen and
seven other religiously minded teachers to come to Washington and visit with us.
1. The Secretary may depart from prepared remarks
JAN 03 '97 06:30PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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2
In addition, we invited religious leaders from many different faiths -- Protestant, Catholic, and
Jewish -- conservative and mainline - orthodox and liberal -- to help us think about what we
could do to overcome this sense of distrust and - at the same time -- what we could do together
to help the American family.
We wanted these religious leaders to be full participants at the very start of our efforts to create a
family involvement partnership for learning. In your packets you see one of the first fruits of that
effort -- a joint statement of Common Purpose drafted by 33 religious leaders in December of
1994.
Since that time we have worked very hard to overcome the division and sometimes the confusion
-- that too often has defined the relationship between religious minded Americans and public
education. This work has taken many different forms.
Our Partnership for Family Involvement now includes over 700 organizations and we have a
very strong focus on improving literacy. This summer, we have enlisted 300,000 adult and youth
mentors in an ongoing effort to help one million children to keep up their reading skills. This fall
we are encouraging parents, civic organizations, religious denominations, and businesses to go
back to school - to reconnect with their local school to find a way to help all of our children
learn.
We are asking individuals and groups to work with their local neighborhood school to help young
people in four specific areas --- reading, technology, providing safe-after school activities and
preparing young people for college through extra tutoring.
I am also asking you to encourage parents to find an extra 30 minutes a day to read with their
children and check their homework. If parents did that every day it would revolutionize American
education. This is in many ways my sermon -- if we can help parents slow down their lives - if
we can give parents time off from the time crunch of modern living -- if we can give families,
guardians and grandparents the extra support they need to raise their children right -- to keep
them away from drugs, smoking, and the violence of TV -- we would be a better country and
provide a more promising future for all of our young people.
In addition, we are working with other groups -- most notably the American Association of
School Administrators, the National PTA and the Freedom Forum -- to define a new common
ground. So they had come together to put out a statement on what they could agree on when it
came to religion in the schools. This was not an easy task. It took them months of effort. And it
took another two months as we worked together to bring other denominations into the group.
But their good work laid the ground work for President Clinton's decision to go forward and
release guidelines on religion in public schools last year. Now, a year later I believe that these
religious guidelines are starting to change the landscape and tone of the public debate about
prayer in school.
JAN 03 '97 06:31PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.8/10
3
Many more Americans now realize that the religious rights of students do not stop at the school
house door. Young people can say grace before lunch, join a Bible Club, read their Bible during
study hall, meet at the "flagpole" before school, and wear religious symbols on their clothing. At
the same time, we want it to be very clear that the First Amendment continues to protect the
rights of minority religions and even the rights of those who choose to have no faith -- to make
sure that no student becomes a "captive audience."
Many of these rights are summarized in the green colored brochure that some of you may have
picked up called,' A Parents Guide to Religion in Public Schools." Yes, there are still some
unsettled issues like prayer at graduation ceremonies. The Supreme Court has yet to speak on
this issue and the lower courts remain divided. And, yes, there is still a division over whether we
should have a Constitutional Amendment on school prayer.
I do not believe that we should tamper with the First Amendment we have never ever changed
the Bill of Rights in our history and I see no reason to change it now. We are the most religious
free nation in the world because of the First Amendment. Others disagree with my opinion and
that is the way it should be in our democracy.
But I believe -- that even in our disagreements -- there is new and growing tone of civility. And
that's good for America and good for public education. Our public schools should not be the
public space for a war on values. When you put schools in the middle, education loses.
This is why I am encouraged when people of faith reach out to each other and act on their faith
and help us to raise our children. President Clinton may have said it best when he said,
"Don't you believe that if every kid in every difficult neighborhood in America were in a
religious institution on weekends - the Synagogue on Saturday, a church on Sunday, or at a
mosque to say their daily prayers --don't you really believe that the drug rate, the crime rate, the
violence rate, the rate of self-destruction would go way down and the character of this country
would go way up?"
Well, I believe the President has it about right. There is a great deal that can be done to involve
our faith communities in helping our children and their parents. Many of you come from faith
communities that have a long tradition of encouraging learning and helping families cope.
Mormons often have a "family night" one day of the week. Many Roman Catholics parishes have
kept their inner city schools open at great costs.
And I am greatly encouraged by the decision of my own faith the United Methodists -- to
endorse a statement of principles entitled Education: the Gift of Hope. To its credit, Education:
the Gift of Hope recognizes that one of the core problems we confront in American education is
one of expectations. The fallacy that your potential is based on your parents income, your native
language, or your race remains one of the great enduring impediments to the progress of
American education.
JAN 03 '97 06:31PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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4
Here a story may be in order. Last year I attended a conference in California organized by a
church and community based organization called PICO. The group had been founded by a
Catholic priest but it was very much a grass-roots and inter-denominational effort dedicated to
social action and economic justice.
This conference was attended by over 2,500 delegates representing 250,000 parishioners. These
were working class people. Average folk trying to make a living. These delegates had done the
hard work of going door-t We want all parents to know that their religious values are protected
and honored in the public space that is public education. As I said earlier, a great deal of
suspicion has grown up among conservative Christians on the role of public schools. They had
come to believe that public education was "hostile" to religion, and that their values were not
respected. And in some cases they were right.
Some educators had come to the conclusion that the best way to interpret the First Amendment's
concerns about the separation of church and state was to avoid the issue of religion altogether.
At the same time, many educators felt under siege. And after thirty years of not understanding
each other on the issue of school prayer just about everybody was confused.
When we first set out to develop the President's guidelines on religion in public schools I met
with a group of litigators. Conservative and liberal, groups as diverse as the National Association
of Evangelicals, the American Jewish Congress, the Christian Legal Society and the ACLU.
These lawyers were something of an odd group. One of the participants in the meeting told me
that after so many years of litigating against each other over school prayer they had become
"institutionally paranoid." Yet, there was a sense of fellowship about them even though they were
always on opposite sides in the court room. They knew that more litigation was the wrong way
to go. o-door, family to family, asking people about their deepest concerns. The overwhelming
conclusion was a deep desire for a better education for their children.
They wanted their children to learn real life skills to be able to make the transition from school-
to-work with some hope of future economic security. But nothing was more moving to me then
the speech of a mother who got up in tears and told the delegates that expectations were
everything.
This seems to be a growing trend and it is a trend that I want to encourage. Last March, Bishop
F. Hebert Skeete of the United Methodist Church and the Rev. Wesley Williams -- who is with us
today -- organized a New England Summit of religious leaders and educators.
I had the good fortune to attend the conference. You have to be inspired when 200 people show
up the day after a blizzard. Where I come from in South Carolina we wouldn't even get out of
our beds if we saw that much snow. The goal of the New England conference was summed up
very neatly by one of the participants who said this, there is a place in the church for education,
and a place for religion in the school."
JAN 03 '97 06:32PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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5
And that in a nutshell defines why we are here today. To find a place in the church for education
and a place for religion in the school. To find the common ground that will allow us to come
together as religious leaders and educators to help our children. And I can tell you that it can
make a difference and so many of you are already making that difference now.
Individual denominations are adopting public schools. Churches and synagogues are holding
tutoring classes and finding mentors for young people. Some faith communities are making their
buildings "safe havens" for young people after school to keep them out of harm's way.
This is important work and so very needed. This coming September we will more young people
in our nation's school than any time in American history -- 51.7 million. Demographers call this
the baby-boom echo and over the next ten years this growth rate is not going to stop.
In the next ten years, we are going to have to educate an additional 2.9 million children. That's a
lot of children and a great majority of these young people will be teenagers. Young people who
have to worry about drugs, violence, AIDS, smoking and in some cases - just staying alive. So
we need your help.
I urge you, then, as church leaders to work with the parents in your own denominations -- to
inspire them to find that extra 30 minutes to help their children learn. It is so important. Help
them give their children the character and the fortitude to be good citizens -- to live their values
each and every day -- and to expand their minds.
As educators I encourage you to see these faith communities for what they are -- as a great
untapped resource that can do so much good for American education. For we all have a common
purpose. As it is said in Proverbs 22:6 "Train children in the right way, and when old, they will
not stray."
Thank you.
Bible Gateway
http://www.gospelcom.net/bible
The Bible Gateway
Hebrews 12:1
(English-NIV/RSV/KJV/Darby/YLT)
See also: Previous chapter, This chapter
1
NIV Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance
the race marked out for us.
RSV Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside
every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that
is set before us,
KJV Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us,
DBY Let *us* also therefore, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside
every weight, and sin which so easily entangles us, run with endurance the race that lies
before us,
YLT Therefore, we also having so great a cloud of witnesses set around us, every weight having
put off, and the closely besetting sin, through endurance may we run the contest that is set
before us,
NIV passages copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved. For
usage information, please read the NIV Copyright Statement.
Gospel Communications Network
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1 of 1
01/03/97 16:16:16
DRAFT
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
ANNUAL ECUMENICAL BREAKFAST
Malance
THE WHITE HOUSE
JANUARY 6, 1997
Acknowledgments:
Good morning and welcome to the White House. I want to thank all of you for the gift of
your presence here today, and for the gift of your example and service to all mankind. It is
fitting that you come bearing those gifts today, because today is the celebration of
Epiphany in the Christian faith the day the Magi came bearing gifts to the new born king.
That is what I want to talk with you about today. How we all must come together, bearing
our unique gifts, towards the goal of keeping the promise of America alive for all our
children. This is a moment of great promise and opportunity for our country. We are
beginning this new year stronger and more prosperous than ever before in our history. And
the American people are coming together around our basic values: opportunity for all,
responsibility from all, and a renewed sense of community. But we face a whole host of
challenges as we prepare to enter a new century.
In the weeks since the election, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what we must all
do together to prepare our nation and our children to succeed in the 21 st century.
Regardless of party or race or religion, all Americans have a stake in a strong America. And
all Americans must do their part to keep us strong. We all must work to improve our
schools and the education of our children to expand college opportunities for more of
our people to lift more people out of welfare and the ranks of the underclass to continue
to make our streets and homes safe and free from the dangers of guns and drugs and
violence to make sure America remains the strongest force for peace and freedom in the
world.
In the two weeks, leading up to the inauguration, I will be talking more about how we meet
those challenges as one America. If there is one thing we have learned, it is that
government cannot and should not solve all these problems alone. As I have said before,
my job doesn't end here at the White House it begins here. The challenges that lie
before us will not be conquered in the halls of government, but in the town halls and halls
of learning and houses of worship that have always been the birthplaces of progress in
America. There have been times when America needed a Marshall Plan -- a huge top-down
government effort to tackle our vexing problems. But, today, we don't need a Marshall
Plan we need a plan to marshall our love our talents and our energies each citizen
doing their part to solve our common problems.
We must not take this call to community lightly. If we want to ensure a better future for
our children and our nation, we must commit ourselves to working together across all the
lines that would divide us. I am reminded of the words of this century's great drum major
for justice, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on whose birthday 1 shall take the oath of office.
Dr. King said: "Together, we must learn to live as brothers, or together, we will perish
together as fools."
In closing, as I look out at this great sea of spiritual diversity, I know that, whatever your
differences, you are all united in the cause of peace and freedom and service to our
country. We must not squander this opportunity. Let us be guided by the words of Paul
talking of the great leaders of the church. He said, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by
such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so
easily entangles, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." [Hebrew 12:1]
Thank you and God bless you all.