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Cheney church glimpses German conservation Center guides people to discern their callings NCC leader restores trust and vision through personal
contacts Anti-poverty programs give poor people a voice
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| Exchanges change lives of participants |
 As part of
its missionary outreach in
the Caribbean, the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane has for some years been
in partnership with the Anglican Diocese of Belize. This link arose in part from the presence of the Rev. Silvestre Romero, the son of the Bishop of Belize, as the Diocese of Spokane’s Hispanic missioner from 1999 to 2002. Commenting recently on the growing partnership, the Bishop of Belize, the Right Rev. Sylvestre Romero, said the relationship between the two dioceses is gratifying. Even though this diocese is “not able to return material gifts in kind, we hope our gift has been and will continue to be our unique qualities as Belizeans—our appreciation, our hospitality and our love for you as human beings made, like us, in the image of God,” he said. According to the Right Rev. James Waggoner, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, congregations from around the diocese—in cooperation with local Rotarians and others—have provided such support as scholarship funds for student tuition assistance in Belize, medical supplies and travel grants. “Our most ambitious undertakings, however, have been direct and personal,” he said, referring to construction and medical teams that have visited Belize in recent years. |
| Spokane physician Laura Costello helps a
patient. Stephanie Clark of Marysville, background left, also helped at
the clinic. |
| Friend to Friend at 25 – younger than those it befriends |
As Friend to Friend reaches 25 years, it is still
many years younger than most of the people its volunteers befriend in
long-term care facilities in the Spokane area. Started in September 1979 by the then
Spokane Christian Coalition, this organization promotes one-to-one
visits—at least for 15 minutes twice a month—with elderly people.
Friend to Friend recruits, screens and trains volunteers. Activity directors in nursing homes match the volunteers with lonely residents who have no family or no family nearby. More than 300 attended an initial informational meeting about the Friend to Friend program. For many years, there were more than 100 volunteer visitors. Now about 50 people volunteer to meet with people in 35 long-term care and assisted living facilities. Friend to Friend continued as a ministry under the nonprofit status of the Coalition as it changed to the Spokane Council of Ecumenical Ministries and then the Interfaith Council. This year, it will become an independent nonprofit organization. Several times it came to the verge of dissolving, and then the minimum donations needed to keep it going would suddenly come in, said Jan Kendrick, part-time volunteer coordinator since 1992. “People in long-term care facilities need outside friends, personal contact, a familiar face—even if they may not recognize the person from one visit to the next,” she said. |
| Professor sees historical, economic basis for conservation |
While recently traveling to Prague for a
international linguistics conference, Eastern Washington University
English professor Grant Smith
accepted an assignment from his congregation’s adult forum, which
studied environmental issues from January through May.Grant and his wife, Lelia, also visited Dresden and Berlin to “take in” art, music and history. When the Cheney United Church of Christ (UCC) class learned of their plans, they suggested they connect with members of the Pacific Northwest UCC Conference’s partner church, the Berlin-Brandenburg Synod of the Evangelical United Church. The class, which studied environmental stewardship issues since January, wanted to know about German and European recycling practices, water usage, energy consumption and conservation measures. For Grant, two world wars, Hitler, the Holocaust, the Cold War and the Berlin Wall, the thawing and the demolition of the wall call the world to recognize that “we are responsible to one another.” Those events affect life styles, perceptions and attitudes of people there today, he said, opening his report to an April adult forum with the historical context. The United Church of Christ, with some roots in the German Evangelical (Lutheran) and Reformed Church, expressed that bond and compassion by sending delegations to visit congregations in East and West Berlin and Germany, as a reminder that Americans cared about them. “After totalitarianism and oppression collapsed in Eastern Europe and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Berlin became an illustration of renewal and hope for the future,” he said. “When I previously visited East Germany, I saw how the communist government abused the environment and exploited resources. Then the most prevalent car was the Trabant, known for its dirty emissions. I saw only one Trabant this time, and I saw many Smart Cars, narrow cars for driving in city traffic. European drivers, like Americans, like power and speed. They want bigger and faster cars, and will have them if they can pay for them.” The high gas tax and the population density create awareness of the need for measures to protect the environment, Grant said. Europeans he met seemed to accept high taxes on gasoline, because they recognize the social utility of those taxes as part of their tradition. The social policies were instituted before people bought big cars, so they are sustainable. There, people who have SUVs and big rigs expect to pay the high price for gas. “In the United States, however, it is hard for politicians to promote a higher gas tax,” Grant said, “even though it would be socially responsible to do that." “Christ calls us to be good stewards and to look at future needs related to our purchases. We may have to change our attitudes about the gas tax and use of foreign oil, not just because of the environment, but also to improve how the world works together. God calls us to this vision—to accept a bit of sacrifice, like higher gas taxes.” Another factor is the ease and ubiquity of mass transportation. Grant also found that Europeans have found some “ingenious technologies” and practices to save electricity. Timed lights in hallways, once turned on manually, are now motion-sensitive. Water use is metered and expensive. Europeans value parks and green spaces, because space is limited. The experience of making sacrifices and accepting rations in World War II and under communism, plus early changes in laws, have set a climate for acceptance of regulations, recognizing the wider public interest, he said. “Our larger cars and low taxes will change only when people want to change. Christ, however, calls us to change and calls us as churches to lead toward a vision of what is needed and workable in society,” Grant said. For information, call 235-6025. |
| Retreat center director guides others to discern their callings |
 Befriending homeless street people and
an imprisoned drug dealer led Deacon
John Ruschiensky from a successful career in food distribution
to his life today as a deacon, hospice chaplain and retreat center
director.As director at Immaculate Heart Retreat Center (IHRC), he has downsized the budget he manages by more than tenfold, but upsized his role as a spiritual guide, mentor and companion. At IHRC, he handles administration, preaching and individual spiritual direction. “One of the toughest things when I first came here was the financial ups and downs of running a retreat center. Across the United States, retreat centers are struggling. Doing administration and ministry together pulled me from the business aspects of paying bills to spiritual concern for people,” John said. While covering 11 states from the 1980s to 1998, promoting fast foods in convenience and grocery stores, John not only made businesses profitable but also befriended those he met. While he helped people he supervised become more productive, he learned about their lives and families, talking openly about God. John saw God at work in corporate America—creating jobs, supporting families, feeding people, developing economic health and providing what people need to live. He continues to build relationships among staff and with visitors to IHRC, especially in individual spiritual direction. With income from donations rather than sales, there are fewer resources and fewer staff in retreat-center work. So it takes more time to accomplish some projects, he said. People give because they believe in what the center does-—giving wholeness to people’s lives. For information, call 448-1224. |
| Council leader restores trust and vision through personal contact |
| Given that God’s reign is beyond
human vision, the Rev. Bob Edgar,
general secretary of the National Council of Churches, said humans are
to “provide yeast so we can produce beyond our own capability.” Beginning his first of four presentations while visiting Spokane for The Fig Tree’s 20th anniversary May 20 and 21, he told of starting in ministry at the age of 19, as youth minister in a United Methodist church in the coal strip-mining region of Pennsylvania. “It helped me understand poverty to learn about the lives of these people who owned only what was in their homes, not their homes, because the company would strip mine right through the property. In February 1968, he heard Martin Luther King, Jr., speak to religious leaders at a Presbyterian church in Washington, D.C.—five weeks before he was assassinated. He told them: “War expenses take the oxygen out of human needs programs. We are the first generation who can mutilate the future for everyone with nuclear weapons.” Since then, Bob has been among the leaders who continued their commitment to help people see the connection between war and poverty: “We must face the fact that tomorrow is today in the conundrum of history,” he quoted from Coretta Scott King’s book Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community. She said that most civilizations learn too late to choose nonviolent co-existence over chaos.  Bob said
her words have stretched him: “Words help shape who we are.”He summed up some population information and than commented: “Christians need to stop thinking we are in the majority. We also need to be aware that 80 percent of people in the world live in substandard housing, 70 percent cannot read or write and 50 percent go to bed hungry.” In 1997, Bob came to the National Council of Churches (NCC) when it was suffering financially. In the 1980s he had brought Claremont Theological Seminary from the brink of collapse. He raised the NCC endowments from $2 million to $25 million by building trust and sharing a vision. “With trust and a vision, raising money is easy,” he said. Several of the 36 mainline Protestant and Orthodox member churches had reduced their contributions before he came. In addition to those churches—including historic black and historic peace churches—55 other churches—Pentecostal, Evangelical and Roman Catholic—serve on NCC commissions: Faith and Order, Communications, Education, Justice and Advocacy, and Interfaith Dialogue. Catholics are the eighth largest supporters, Bob said. Aware that sometimes churches live past their mission, he helped the NCC rediscover its mission—making known its work: • The NCC is “in the Bible business.” It publishes the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and the New RSV Bibles—so, with a note of humor and sincerity, he urged people to read their Bibles. • The NCC promotes civil rights, human rights, women’s rights and people’s rights. In 1957, for example, the NCC loaned its youth director, the Rev. Andrew Young, to Martin Luther King, Jr., to organize white ministers and lay people to go to the South to promote civil rights. • Church World Service/CROP is the NCC’s aid and development ministry working to end poverty, heal the environment and bring about peace in the world. The money problem was a symbol of the problems the NCC faced, but was not the real problem, Bob said. “We needed to change our beatitude—our be attitude—about life. We were talking about poverty, the environment and peace, but we were not acting. We needed to stop worrying whether it was safe for the NCC to act, to be faithful and to draw people together to work on issues.” The NCC is taking five steps: 1) It is looking at “trend lines” in American society on health care, wages, CEO salares, integration, school funding and teacher salaries. 2) It is setting achievable goals: assuring high school graduates car read and write, and moving people off food stamps. 3) It promotes the goals without worrying who among collaborating partners takes the credit. The goal is to do something about poverty. Bob finds when people read the Bible “literally enough,” they discover God cares about poor people. 4) It can do what churches cannot do to measure results and evaluate what works. Four years ago, the NCC committed to the “Mobilization Against Poverty.” 5) As part of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, it works behind the scenes with Jewish and Catholic leaders to convince people, including seminarians, that “God cares about the environment, the creation.” For information, visit www.ncccusa.org. |
| Local anti-poverty programs give poor people a voice |
| Valley Center assisted 62,000 people in 2003 A staff of five and 140 volunteers at the Spokane Valley Community Center assisted 62,000 people in 2003. The clothing bank alone served 24,000. Spokane Valley churches formed the center 15 years ago because they realized people in need were going church-to-church asking for gas money, food or clothes. While they wanted means to confirm their stories, they also wanted to track and provide follow-up services to meet their needs more comprehensively.Several churches purchased an old carpet warehouse for food and clothing banks. Purchased in 2002, today’s center— a former church at 10814 E. Broadway—surpasses those early goals. Nine nonprofits share the space. Mollie Dalpae, director, said 30 churches participate. The center offers GED education, emergency assistance, immunizations, computer classes, a children’s theatre, a health clinic, glasses, coats for children and 3,000 Christmas gifts. It also arranges with schools so homeless children can be transported to the school they started attending, so their learning is not disrupted when family income drops and they have to move. “We help people find and keep jobs; go to and stay in school." Mollie said. "We teach people art or skills based on their interest, so they gain skills to move out of poverty and stop repeating the cycle of poverty for themselves and their children.”  For information, call 927-1153. Mollie Dalpae, Kathy Barrick and Cathy McGinty tell about their poverty programs during Fig Tree's 20th anniversary event in May. Downtown church connects members with poor through two ministries Through Central United Methodist Church, Kathy Barrick participates in two community ministries: Shalom Ministries and the Spokane Alliance. “In our small city, we are like urban churches in other settings,” she said of her church’s starting Shalom Ministries in 1994 to provide meals for homeless and chronically poor people downtown and to collaborate with other faith-based organizations. Dining with Dignity serves 3,500 meals through breakfast and lunch four days a week and dinner one day. “We treat each person respectfully,” she said. “At meals, people form a support community and learn about resources.” Shalom Ministries offers computer education, job training, information and referral. In partnership with other nonprofits, it empowers people to break the cycle of hopelessness. “Just as the church shares its space with the homeless, we hope the homeless will share with each other,” Kathy said. Shalom Ministries has become the church’s identity in the neighborhood and wider community. The poor are welcomed into the congregation for worship and to serve on boards, so the people attending Central United Methodist are “a spread of the economic spectrum,” which “gives us a reality-based knowledge of poverty. Through interacting, we understand issues,” Kathy said. The church is also one of 34 faith, labor, education and civic organizations that are members of the Spokane Alliance, representing 30,000 people. The alliance strengthens member organizations by training leaders and developing relationships among the organizations’ members so they can work together in civic responsibility. For information, call 838-1431. VOICES educates low-income people to become advocates on issues Cathy McGinty of VOICES—Voices for Opportunity, Income, Child Care, Education and Services—described this program that educates low-income people to advocate for themselves with legislators, City Council and other organizations. “We help people tell their stories in order to break stereotypes. We let people in authority know what it is like to be poor and we advocate a safety net,” she said. VOICES registered 125 voters and worked with the Spokane Alliance on the STA campaign. The alliance has trained VOICES members in negotiating with the City Council to increase human-service funding from half a percent to 1 percent of its budget. “Some City Council members wondered why there was need for food banks and food stamps, transitional housing and the Housing Authority. We helped them understand our need to move beyond crisis,” Cathy said. Beyond the Spokane County reach of VOICES, people in Pullman have expressed interest in starting a similar group. VOICES was started in 1989 by the Greater Spokane Coalition Against Poverty—formed by the Spokane Council of Ecumenical Ministries after regional bishops and church executives’ discussion on the Catholic Bishops’ Pastoral on Economic Justice. “Conversations about fixing the welfare system, had left out people on welfare until GSCAP started. The poor met with the wealthy through GSCAP, discussing what programs were good and which were roadblocks,” she said. Limited funding of VOICES has shifted Cathy from program coordinator to volunteer. She continues because of her passion for the work and because she sees how effective it is. VOICES works as a partner, connecting low-income people with many other organizations. It meets at 5:30 p.m., third Thursdays, at Salem Lutheran Church, 1428 W. Broadway. Its speakers bureau and Let ‘Em Rip dramatic troupe share stories of participants. For information, call 532-612 |