Churches strive to unite in collaborative effort to ease poverty in East Cooper

Church populations tend to disagree a lot. They argue about theology and politics. They disagree with other church communities. They disagree with one another.

Some stress communal worship. Others emphasize the power of prayer and the importance of a personal God. Some insist that salvation of the soul is the only important goal. Others say the priority is brotherly love.

Sometimes disagreements tear apart the fabric of congregations or denominations, and the disenfranchised splinter off to forge a new path (or return to an old path).

But there is one basic tenet upon which all people of faith and goodwill seem to agree, whether Christian or Jew or Muslim or Buddhist, no matter race or gender or sexual orientation, without regard for social status or sin: Service to the community, and especially the disadvantaged, is an obligation.

Churches and synagogues and mosques all have programs to help the poor. Their members help pay for education programs or travel on missions abroad. They volunteer in their communities -- to build a playground, fund a library or after-school program, mentor an at-risk youth, coach a soccer team, plant a city garden, clean up a neighborhood or build low-income housing.

That's what all religious doctrine requires. Jews are meant to repair the world. Christians are meant to follow Jesus' teachings. Muslims are obliged to give away a portion of their wealth to help others. Buddhists strive eternally for harmony with the world and personal enlightenment. Hindus believe in the sacredness of all life and in a cosmic justice that requires compassion and action.

So when the congregation and staff at Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church began a self-examination a couple of years ago as part of its strategic planning process, they thought about the role they wanted to play in the community, said the Rev. John Hage, its associate pastor for mission.

They thought about the tendency to seek safety in the familiar, and their failure to take a hard look at the suffering nearby. "Everyone exists in his own bubble," Hage said. "Yet we want to be a missional church, which means to be a positive force in the community."

The members of Mount Pleasant Presbyterian realized that to make an impact, they would have to engage with others. To do so, learning was required.

"There's a lot we don't know," Hage said.

A year ago, the meetings began. Representatives from Mount Pleasant Presbyterian and several other East Cooper churches got together to discuss a collaborative approach to community service and worship.

They knew it wasn't the first time such cooperation has been attempted; they knew that other efforts have met with various degrees of success or failure, according to Becky Van Wie, a Mount Pleasant Presbyterian member and associate director of the Lowcountry Continuum of Care Partnership.

Van Wie said the group met with people who have been around this block. Both Chuck Coward, executive director of Charleston Outreach, and the Rev. Bert Keller, pastor of Circular Congregational Church, explained some of the pitfalls, and both encouraged the nascent ecumenical team to forgo establishing a formal organizational structure for the time being and focus instead on action.

"Do something," they said, according to Van Wie. That way others will see that the effort is about more than just good ideas and they'll get involved.

Since March, the group has been meeting monthly, riding on some momentum established when several churches got together to help the financially strained Boys & Girls Club of the Trident Area late last year, Van Wie said.

Then they planted a garden at the Mount Pleasant site of the Boys & Girls Club. And on Sept. 20, they went public with a joint worship service that included Mount Pleasant Presbyterian, the Church of the Holy Cross on Sullivan's Island, First Baptist Church, Holy Trinity AME Church, Friendship AME Church and St. Paul's Lutheran Church.

Hage welcomed more than 100 people with enthusiasm and optimism, telling those gathered that worshipping together, irrespective of denominational boundaries, represented a joyous opportunity.

While Mount Pleasant is blessed in many ways, it is important to acknowledge the inequity, racial tension and poverty that persist and to take action to remedy these problems, he said in an interview. The short-term goal of the Ecumenical Network is to determine a path forward.

"How can we work together to pray for our community so the community can see churches not as competitors but as one body?" he said.

The Rev. Steven Plonk of St. Paul's Lutheran said collaboration is key.

"It's always good when folks can reach across denominational lines and cooperate with each other," he said. "Worship is a good start."

The joint worship service was inspiring, but it will require an effort to muster continued enthusiasm, he said. Hopefully, those who attended were energized enough to promote the purpose of the Ecumenical Network to other members of their congregations, Plonk said.

Collaboration need not be limited to church groups, he added, saying it seemed "like a no-brainer" to coordinate efforts with nonprofit aid organizations such as East Cooper Community Outreach, Meals on Wheels and the United Methodist Relief Center, which focuses on affordable housing.

Other South Carolina cities, such as Clemson, Columbia and Myrtle Beach, all have forged ecumenical, interfaith or public-private and faith-based collaborative enterprises, Plonk noted. So why not Mount Pleasant?

Gail Montgomery, director of ECCO's Out of Poverty initiative, has attended Ecumenical Network meetings and discussed ways to improve services to the community.

Montgomery said it makes a lot of sense for churches and aid organizations to design formal partnerships, but that it's essential for those enduring hardship to have a place at the table. It is difficult for privileged people to fully appreciate the daily struggles of the poor, she said.

"Helping can be disempowering if it's not done in the spirit of total cooperation," she said. Responsibility must be shared across the board.

Montgomery advocates the development of an East Cooper strategic plan in which grass-roots collaboration is embraced by churches and accommodates actual needs effectively. The idea, she said, is for churches, service providers and other groups to provide specialized aid. One organization can assume responsibility for senior services; another for youth services; another for job training; another for free medical care. And so on.

No single church bites off more than it can chew, and all contribute to a cohesive whole.

The collaborative enterprise can rely on new technology solutions and centralized administrative functions to make the service delivery process efficient, she said.

"You need a visible, strong voice in the community advocating collaboration," Montgomery said. "Otherwise you get a boardroom discussion rather than a community priority."

Reach Adam Parker at 937-5902 or aparker@postand courier.com.