Alabama Baptists should be diligent in completing census information because civic responsibility, but officials said they should also consider the importance the census has to their congregations.
Churches and religious groups often use census numbers to plan new facilities and programs for their congregations, according to information provided on the census’ Web site. Officials with the Census Bureau said if some segments of the population don’t participate as much as others, those segments will be underrepresented.
Officials said the census helps direct distribution of funding for programs that help children, the poor and unemployed- as well as the elderly and people without housing and individuals with disabilities. Census officials said such figures are important because many of those people attend church or live in communities where the churches are located.
Census officials are encouraging pastor sand church employees to motivate people to participate in the census by making announcements in church bulletins and newsletters- with brochures and sample announcements available for use by churches. Church leaders are also being asked to stress the importance of the census during church services.
In addition, pastors are being asked to encourage those in their congregations to volunteer for census activities, including preparing job seekers to take census tests and staffing centers where people can get help filling out forms.
The Census Bureau said pastors should encourage their congregations and communities to complete their census forms and mail them back as soon as possible. Beginning in May, census workers will visit homes of those who have not returned their forms and pastors are asked to encourage people to cooperate with them.
Additional information about the census is available at http://www.census.gov.
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