IMA's OCtober 2007 Meeting

After a long absence I again attended a meeting of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Baltimore. This is a group of urban ministers. The current president is Dr. William Calhoun, a professor of mine when I took the course of Urban Ministry at St. Mary Seminary and University back in the late 1990s.

Following the photographs are the notes which I took at the meeting. A few days after the meeting I was talking with a gentleman who lives in Annapolis and he told me that when he and his wife moved there, one could not find a decent family restaurant in which to eat. Most of the businesses had slot machines and one also could not get any service. Then Philips came in and established a nice family restaurant. The gambling industry wanted to help them but they declined their help. After they opened, the restaurant was always crowded because it was a nice, family type restaurant. This gentleman said that now that they got rid of slots, Annapolis is a wonderful city.

I told him that I wish that we had that conversation the previous week before the IMA meeting. The Biloxi MS story is the only success story that I have heard involving slots.

The benefits with groups like IMA is access to important people and programs. I do not attend their religious nor political activities. I very strongly believe in knowing what is happening in one's community and doing what one can to make the community a better place to live, work, play, and, of course, worship.

Ms. Alison Robinson
Kathryn Farinholt and Stacey Harrison
	The most important people here: the food preparers and host
	Dr. William Calhoun Sr.	Rev. Macie Tillman
	Dr. Gregory Perkins, host	Chplain Hugh Daniel

Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance
Thursday 4 October 2007

St. Paul Community Baptist Church
1901 E Federal Street
Baltimore MD 21213

Rev. Dr. Gregory Perkins, Host

I. Call to Order, Rev. Dr. William C. Calhoun, Sr.

II. Devotional, Rev. Macie O. Tillman

Luke 23:32-38: Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Recently at Morgan State University all the candidates were too busy to come. We should forgive them but we must recognize that they are not for us and therefore we should not put them in office. They won’t serve us but they will kill us.

III. Welcome, Rev. Dr. Gregory Perkins
Three weeks Dr. Perkins celebrated 27 years as pastor.

IV. Introduction and Rounds
0783, Hugh Daniel is a prison chaplain and he heads Project Peace out of Union Baptist Church.

It hurts so much to cry and we have to learn how to laugh.

Dr. Calhoun likes the attitude of the new Archbishop of Baltimore. He shows a lot of promise as far as ecumenical relations are concerned.

In November Dr. Calhoun will appoint a nominating committee for the elections of officers. He will not be qualified to run.

One of our vice presidents will be ordained on 19 October. The entire Alliance is invited to the ordination service. She is a graduate of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary Seminary and University. She has been in the church all her life. She “can pull it” (she can preach).

St. James Episcopal Church is the oldest black Episcopal church south of the Mason-Dixon line. Out of that church came Bishop Curry who is now in North Carolina and doing well.

Our poet laureate, George, said that we refer the poor, the uneducated, etc., to social services. God referred them to Jesus.

How long do guns need to be a case of deal for our children? Do guns need to be easier to buy than medicine? Should one case of menoghitis be more important than 300 cases of shooting death per year? We love those who love us. We feel so good. Then Jesus came and destroyed our complacency.

We were on CNN. No group was able to get people registered to vote as did the BUILD organization. BUILD has a lot of influence. They had over 300 volunteers on election day getting people to vote. They had over 2,000 newly registered voters. They contacted over 15,000 voters.

The press conference was the largest gathering of clergy in 20 years. It was the day before the election and it worked.

Ms. Alison Robinson from the University School of Medicine:

Ms. Robinson is the first lady of St. James Episcopal Church. She focuses on breast and colorectal cancer. There is a high death rate among blacks due to these two cancers. They are looking to partner with churches, senior centers, etc.

They have control sites and investigation sites. Both are near senior centers and residential communities. They do not provide the screening. For those who do not have resources, the community worker has the information. They are educating everyone on the importance of being screened. Ultimately they want everybody to be screened.

They have a program that is 12 months long. For those in the Colorectal and Breast Cancer Patient Navigation Program, they will receive the follow-up calls. For those not in the program, there will be no follow up calls. They want to find out if it makes any difference having a case worker. They are targeting black people, 50 years or older.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast Cancer is also for men.

What are the responsibilities of the partner? They require a letter agreeing to be a partner and the partner will host an enrollment meeting. There will be a Powerpoint presentation. There will be a nurse navigator who can handhold the patients through the treatment.

Ms. Kathryn Farinholt from NAMI - Mental Illness Week:

Stacey Harrison. National Alliance of Mental Illness for the Baltimore region. They go on a peer empowerment model. People are trained to lead their outreach programs. Mental Illness Awareness week is 7-13 October 2007. In the black communities there are many people suffering from mental illness and there is a big stigma attached to this. They have a newsletter entitled Mental Illness and Faith. They have representatives who can come to health fairs. Every week should be the week that we should shed light on mental illness. They have material for a resource table in your church. They can ut you on their mailing list for six months. There is a workshop on housing coming up. Each month they do a major workshop. They have a major educational event on 12 December at Morgan State University. This is not a fund raiser. The cost is $50 a ticket.

Dr. Calhoun: We want people to go home and tell people what the Lord has done for them. We don’t separate faith and science. Science exists because of the divine.

Slots: Pastor Arlene ___________ of Payne AME Church moderated.

The Baltimore Collective Baking Group and the Prince George’s County Collective Baking Group do not want slots in this state. We are ready to come to Annapolis if necessary. There will be a rally in Baltimore City on 22 October, location to be determined. We are trying to get an audience with the Committee of Ten. We have asked our president to join us.

Dr. Calhoun: We did a research on the impact of gambling. It was done right here in this church [where we are meeting]. It is well known where we are. The Alliance endorsed the governor but we disagreed on slots. He knows where we stand. Senator Jones voted for it the first time and now she is against it.

An individual said that the casino industry is piggy back on this. The casino industry is trying to bring casino to the Inner Harbor and other places.

Dr. Perkins said that we need to restate our position. This will go beyond the race tracks. Once it starts, you won’t be able to stop it.

About five or six years ago Dr. Calhoun did a study on gambling. In Nevada the gambling industry controlled the lives of young people. The student union at the University of Nevada is just a small room. The kids are bypassing education. This also interacts with divorce, suicide, thievery, etc.

Cities like Atlantic City have become a village unto themselves with no concern for those around them. On Indian reservations the money went only to the top and not to the people. Dr. Calhoun went on the Internet and to the library and other places to get his information. Vice and prostitution increased in the city. It is a moral, spiritual, and social concern. It also affects our mental health.

Governor O’Malley is calling a two-day session in November. We should go to that session and express our opposition.

In Atlantic City in the Yellow Pages there are 65 pages of escort services. You will attract a sophisticated industry of organized crime. The neighborhoods won’t see that money and the schools won’t see that money. The majority of the income from Scratch Off comes from poor people.

Julius said that Biloxi MS is a casino resort. It is well kept. It brought people together. If it takes slots to bring people together, he is in favor of it.

One minister said that we have to come out in other areas also. We have to fight for living wages and to show that this is more than a moral issue. We are not in a position to punish any politician right now. The next election is four years from now. All taxes go into the General Fund and it is spent. You can’t defeat this on moral grounds The argument has to be made that id does not help the deficit. The people have to be given living wages.

What other alternatives can we offer the governor? Increase the liquor and tobacco taxes. We have some churches that would oppose liquor tax. Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia have slots and people are running. We have to stand against it. The Alliance always opposed on moral grounds, but also for other reasons.

There are also other costs to slots. They have to provide additional police and other things.

Mike Busch and the president of the Senate back him up. Busch said that we don’t know if we have a deficit until we look at the budget.

What is our strategy to impact the movement of government? Progressive Maryland has not bee very loud about this.

Does the State of Maryland want to become a gambling community? Gambling is unionized across the country. Unions have been our allies in the past. In Atlantic City in some churches people pay with chips and on Monday morning the officers have to go to the casino to cash in the chips. The State of New Jersey has turned their back on the people who need help. [3870] In some churches there are two tier tithing. If you pay by traditional method it is ten percent. If you pay by chips, it is 20%.

In Los Vegas people from the gambling industry were offering pastors $3,000 for each employee they refer.

We can’t say that gambling will destroy family life in Baltimore. There is no family life now. Family members work three different shifts and they don’t see each other, etc., in Los Vegas.

Another preacher said that we need to have an alternative.

Dr. Calhoun set up a committee to work on this.

VIII. Announcements

The new police chief has been announced. The Acting Commissioner is now the Commissioner.

Keep in your prayers Kevin Rogers.

Dr. Calhoun recommends that we all read American Fascism. It deals with the religious right and talks about how they are set up under the pseudonym of being Christian.

There is a youth outreach on Saturday at 10:30 at 2 East Read Street.

The next meeting will be the first Thursday in November and there will be elections.

IX. Closing and Benediction

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