Virginian-Pilot

DATE: Tuesday, April 29, 1997               TAG: 9704300802

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   91 lines




CITY MINISTERS ENVISION A BETTER PORTSMOUTH THE JEREMIAH PROJECT IS ABOUT PEOPLE WORKING ON THE CITY'S NEEDS.

Seek ye the welfare of the city where I have sent you, and pray to the lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your own.''

When the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah passed on that message from God about 2,600 years ago, he was talking about Babylon.

But seeking the welfare of the city in which one lives is just as relevant today, according to a group of Portsmouth ministers who have launched what they call the Jeremiah Project.

They started about two months ago with about a half-dozen ministers and are expecting 30 to join the effort at the next meeting, to be held at noon today at Trinity Episcopal Church. In fact, they hope to have every minister in the city on board by October, a tentative date for what the organization would like to turn into a citywide Care and Prayer Summit.

The idea wasn't inspired by Portsmouth's success with its two crime summits, participants say. But the event will be similar in its ability to bring a large group of people together to identify problems and solutions, said the Rev. Geoffrey Hahneman of Trinity.

``The great thing about the crime summit, I think, is they decided what the problems were and I'm not sure they were exactly what the police or the politicians would have thought,'' he said. ``I'm not sure, until we all get together, what the burning issues are. I mean, I think it's Ida Barbour, I think it's the homeless, because I'm downtown. But what are the needs of the people?''

That will be an ongoing question for a project that intends to be seeking answers and solutions on an ongoing basis, participants say.

For now, they already have begun identifying areas that need to be looked at, ranging from the impact of the loss of Portsmouth General Hospital on residents to the impact of welfare reform. They also are concerned with how the Vision 2005 plan will affect communities, including Ida Barbour.

It comes down to a need to know how changes are going to impact ``struggling people in this community,'' said the Rev. H.D. Scoggins of First Presbyterian Church.

Jim Gildea, city planning director, has been asked to talk to the group. He says the ministers' group is another positive way to strengthen the ties between City Hall and the community.

``We talk almost until it becomes a mantra about the partnership - every city, not just Portsmouth, needs its citizens and business people enlisted in the progress of the city,'' said Gildea. ``The churches in most cities, and especially in Portsmouth, are such vibrant organizations that for them to come together and . . . select projects and goals to achieve, they can harness a lot of energy.''

The first ministers who met were approached by Sister Anna Mae Crane, who is affiliated with the Sisters of Bon Secours.

``She had this marvelous idea about working in the city . . . and I was totally captivated by what she was saying,'' said the Rev. Vernon Lee of New Mount Vernon Baptist Church.

Other ministers who answered her first invitation to meet included the Revs. Matt Matthews of Simonsdale Presbyterian, Arnold Harrell of St. Mark Missionary Baptist and Cathy L. Fielding, program director of outreach ministries for Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial United Methodist Church.

The ministers already involved represent all areas of the city, and they hope that eventually the Jeremiah Project could bring together two large ministerial associations, one that is made up mostly of African-American ministers and the other predominantly of white ministers.

``The Jeremiah Project allows us to look at the welfare and the issues of everybody - not just blacks, not just whites, but everybody,'' said the Rev. Arnold Harrell, associate pastor of St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church.

Jeremiah was a prophet who dealt with the issues of division and bringing people together, Harrell said.

Sister Crane still serves as facilitator of the group, a fact that probably helped move things along, some participants say.

A free lunch will be served at today's meeting. Clergymen interested in attending should make reservations by calling Sister Crane at 398-4900. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MARK MITCHELL/The Virginian-Pilot

From left, the Revs. Vernon Lee, Matt Mathews, Cathy Fielding,

Sister Anna Mae Crane, the Revs. Arnold Harrell, Geoffrey Hahneman

and H.D. Scoggins are among those who will meet today at Trinity

Episcopal Church to discuss the Jeremiah Project, which they hope

will help identify problems and solutions in Portsmouth.

Graphic

THE JEREMIAH PROJECT

A coalition of Portsmouth area ministers and their churches has

started what they're calling The Jeremiah Project.

Their goal is to pool ideas and resources to help solve problems

ranging from homelessness to the impact of welfare reform.

The ministers' next meeting is noon today. To make reservations

for the free lunch, call Sister Anna Mae Crane at 398-4900.



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