Baltimore Funding of Faith-Based Hunger Program Opposed

After issuing a statement last week opposing the state of Maryland's spending $150,000 on transportation to attract the National Baptist Convention to Baltimore, now Americans United for Separation of Church and State has sued the city of Baltimore that is planning to give the United Baptist Missionary Convention of Maryland (UMBCM) $297,500 to support its Bags of Love outreach program. Today's Baltimore Sun says that funds will be spent to distribute over 1,000 bag lunches at area shelters and missions on Saturday before the Convention begins. The suit claims that funding the anti-hunger program violates the separation of church and state because the bags of food being distributed also contain a Bible and "salvation tracts". (AU Release.) However, Rev. Theresa Mercer says now that city finding is being used, that UMBCM is no longer planning to include Bibles or other religious materials in the food bags. Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, said that his group would need to look at the revised plans to decide whether to withdraw the suit.