Bishop Martin Meets with President Ford at White House
Diocesan Press Service. February 13, 1975 [75062]
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Thirty-five top-ranking church officials, including the Rt. Rev. Richard B. Martin, Executive for Ministries of the Episcopal Church, visited President Gerald R. Ford in the White House on January 30.
It was the first visit of its kind in more than a decade of strained relations between the government and the nation's major Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches.
The invitation to meet the President came from the White House to National Council of Churches President W. Sterling Cary, General Secretary Claire Randall, and the chief executive officers of the council's 31 member churches.
The group met with the President in the Cabinet Room and raised questions on a variety of issues of concern. The President told the officials that he was designating Mr. Ted Marrs to act as his personal liaison with the NCC for ongoing concerns.
The church leaders questioned the President most closely on the problems of farm workers, on how his policy on food stamps and their rising costs affects the poor, and on human rights in countries supported by U.S. aid.