He said congregations tend to lack the ability to provide professional social welfare services. Cash assistance is the most common form of congregational assistance, 88.6 percent, among the 14,301 congregations in the survey. Food assistance was next, 85.1 percent, and 61.8 percent take donations of clothing and other household items for the needy. John DiIulio, director of the White House Office on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, last week said religious programs should be allowed to compete for all types of government funds.
Charitable choice is already law for welfare and two other federal programs.
Now President Bush proposes expanding it to programs across government, and it's come under fire from groups across the religious and political spectrum.