Partners for the Common Good

Strict separation between church and state is a ‘bankrupt concept’ states Project Reach director in keynote speech in Albany.

Challenging a common misperception about the public roles of faith-based organizations and government agencies, John P. Margand, executive director of Project REACH in New York City, told an audience of 130 faith-based groups in Albany, New York that church and state must collaborate to promote the common good of all citizens.

Church and state are separate, autonomous spheres, and one must not seek to dominate the other, rather they should work together to bring about a more just and healthy society, he said. Faith-based groups should be careful, however, not to allow government funding requirements to compromise their original mission, nor should the state’s financial and coercive powers be harnessed to promote a particular religious viewpoint, he warned.

Margand, a lawyer who has headed Project REACH for four years, delivered the keynote speech in the state’s capital at a conference sponsored by President Bush’s Compassion Capital Fund program. The Fund supplies seed grants and advisory support to faith-based and community organizations seeking federal money for their programs that help people in need at the local level. The conference was hosted by the Institute for Youth Development, of Sterling Virginia, which helps administer the Compassion Capital Fund throughout the United States.

Project REACH, with headquarters in midtown Manhattan, has served as a support arm for faith-based and community groups who help at-risk youth in the Greater New York area. Project REACH recently launched an abstinence initiative for schools in the same region. Last year, Project REACH received a $40,000 federal sub-grant to expand its operations.

In his keynote address, Margand said the idea of strict separation of church and state that is operative today is a “bankrupt concept with a dubious constitutional pedigree.” Rather than pretend that there is no relationship between the government and faith-based groups, it is far more realistic and productive for church and state to seek ways in which to collaborate for the common good, he said.

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