FAITH IN TRANSITION
I’ll say Amen and thank you very much for the most positive article [“Say Amen, Somebody,” WW, April 23, 2008] about the church in Portland since The Oregonian’s Nov. 30, 1993, “A Tiny Church Opens Its Doors to Addicts.” That, too, was a front page story and rare for the media to present regarding the church.
What I especially appreciated was the presentation of the church (especially the black church) in transition from the old (following and more recently worshipping the preacher) to attempting to utilize the vast untapped talent of the congregation as a “Good Samaritan.” Wouldn’t you know that the impetus is virtually coming from the mouth of a babe (Matt. 21:16), Charles McGee.
McGee is onto something on at least two fronts. He seems to see the need for and the capability of the church to be working in the midst of the daily grind for the good and benefit of people—exactly where I believe Christ’s body should be (John 13:1-20). After all, that is where He was during His time with us. Secondly, McGee apparently sees where he can and should do something with, for, and through the church other than be a broken-down, stupid, predatory, ego-maniacal, ill-prepared, so-called preacher. Good for him and may God bless him because he will need the full resources of heaven to even make a dent in this current malaise (Birthday, anniversary, and appreciation fetes for the preacher and their wives and “If you want be anything in the city, you must go through Bethel.”).
Hopefully, your article will facilitate a new and powerful movement toward mobilizing the churches of Portland from the morbid death of “faith without works” (James 2:17) to the glorious resurrection of being a servant according to the desires and example of Christ. As far as I am concerned, you deserve a Pulitzer for “Say, Amen, Somebody.” Amen!
Rev. C. Bell Kirkpatrick (Ret.)
Via wweek.com
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Very good comments, sir. I agree with you. In the town that I live in, a suburb of Portland, there are several churches that have programs that help the community (addiction programs, homeless shelters, food pantries, etc...) and they do it all just on donations. They just don't get the publicity and they don’t ask for it.
TO: Editor, Willamette Week
RE: Problem with Cascadia
Behavioral Healthcare
As a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Addictions Counselor in Oregon, I have often interfaced with a variety of clients being served by Cascadia BHC over the five years that I have been in private practice. I have also had some substantial contact and discussions with various staff members of that agency. The overall result of these interactions has generated two key observations:
(1) A confusing, somewhat puzzling overlap of services provided within the agency, leading to redundancy and hiring of extraneous staff;
(2) An apparently bloated senior management and executive staff with
titles and functions that seem unnecessarily duplicative, and all with rather high salaries..
The product of these two observations is simply a huge waste of money that should have gone directly to provide client services (including needed psychotropic medications and resource materials). I fault the senior management, as orchestrated by departing Ms. Leslie Ford, for this very poor agency management. This fiasco also points out the dangers of funding huge, “super-agencies” to provide public human services. I urge the County to constructively look at awarding service contracts to much smaller agencies and independent practitioners so that efficiencies may be created and easier, more comprehensive County auditing be conducted. I hope for the best with this very important situation!
Vincent P. Dimone
LPC, CDACI, CGAC II, LMHC, QMHP, CRC, NCC
MS, MBA, MLS
Mark
Barack Obama has America all wrong.
Barack and Michelle Obama may think that average Americans are "bitter" and may themselves be "bitter" because they did not get free Harvard Law degrees so they could just pocket 4.2 million dollars a year, but Americans are not a "bitter" people.
Religious faith and involvement in shooting sports are traditional values unrelated to bitterness. Using Obama's rationale, Michelle Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's 8,500 other parishioners should be armed to the teeth.
But, then again, the 1996 Obama campaign responded that Obama supported legislation to "ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns."
In 2004, why did the supposedly anti-war Obama say "There's not much of a difference between my position on Iraq and George Bush's position at this stage."?
If John McCain and Hillary Clinton sat for 20 years in a church that called for singing "God Damn America," they would be run out of town.
Unreimbursed health care for the uninsured causes hospitals to become insolvent and close. The Obama health plan leaves 15 million people uninsured. Leaving people uninsured will not stop continued hospital closings and disproportionate loss of health care for the economically disadvantaged.
If Michelle Obama thinks America is "just downright mean" and was not "proud" of America until she had the White House in her sights, where does that leave the rest of us? Why did Hamas adviser Ahmed Yousef endorse Obama? When will Obama throw Hamas and Michelle under the bus?