In hard-hit area, cash-strapped churches reach out in ministry

GOSHEN, Ind. (RNS)—The annual “Family Fest” at Bethany Christian Schools usually is a joyous event as families auction off handmade quilts, furniture and other goods in the annual school fundraiser. But this year, double-digit unemployment rates overshadowed the event with a sense of anxiety. The event failed to meet last year’s proceeds.

“People … know that there but by the grace of God go I,” Principal Allen Dueck said. “It could be me tomorrow or my family member. So, I think there’s a real sense of pulling together in ways we can.”

Indiana’s Elkhart County has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country— at 20 percent, it’s more than twice the national average. And in this overwhelmingly Christian community with a significant Mennonite population, churches are being called upon more than ever to help meet physical and spiritual needs.

Many believe the unemployment rate actually is much higher because the official numbers don’t include those who don’t file for unemployment benefits. Here, that means large numbers of out-of-work undocumented Hispanic immigrants and Amish farmers who took factory jobs when they couldn’t make a living on their farms.

Churches here are banding together to help the unemployed. One of the most prominent efforts is Church Community Services, a ministry supported by Mennonite, Catholic, mainline Protestant and evangelical congregations. Church Community Services has several programs, including a food pantry that is seeing an all-time high in the number of requests. They also provide emergency assistance to people who can’t pay for rent, utilities and prescription medicine.

“To me, it’s a way of Christians actually putting their hands and their feet to what they believe,” said Dean Preheim Bartel, the program’s executive director. “So it’s not just something in their head, but it’s something they are actually doing. They’re putting their heart and soul into it.”

At the same time, local churches that support community ministries are facing their own budget shortfalls—even as they are being asked to do more. Church leaders say the situation has taken a heavy spiritual toll.

At Elk-hart’s Assoc-iated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, professors are teaching future pastors how to counsel people affected by the economic crisis. It starts with listening, said seminary President Nelson Kraybill.

“You don’t come with quick and easy answers and anyone who does, saying ‘Well, this is what you ought to do,’ or ‘This is where you made a mistake,’ if you start with that, I think you have defeated the entire purpose of the pastoral encounter,” he said.

Kraybill believes the entire community is learning important spiritual lessons.

“It’s in the people around us who are the most vulnerable where we are going to see the face of God,” he said.