Churches: The Growth of Green Power

U.S. churches are firmly committed to economic and social equality for the underprivileged; they are also one of the nation’s major consumers of goods and services. Putting two and two together is Project Equality, an ecumenical campaign aimed at persuading churches to withhold their business from firms that practice racial discrimination in employment.

Launched two years ago in the Roman Catholic archdioceses of Detroit and St. Louis, Project Equality last week issued its first progress report—and progress it had to report. The campaign has now spread to ten states, includes more than 7,500 Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Jewish congregations with a combined purchasing power of nearly $2 billion a year. To date, more than 15,000 firms, ranging from two-man shops to corporations employing more than 100,000 people, have pledged their cooperation. By the end of next year, predicts Project Equality’s national director, Catholic Layman Thomas Gibbons Jr., the campaign will encompass 22 states and have a buying potential of $7 billion. Boasts Gibbons: “That’s green power.”