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Church History (Continued) |
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On August 1, 1994, we hosted a performance of
"Home", a play about being gay, sponsored by the National 'Reconciling
Congregational Program. Over 100 people crowded into the sanctuary to see
it. The Quire performed at Faith on May 5, 1996 and again on December 7,
1996. Again the sanctuary was filled for both performances. During
Advent in 1995 Faith conducted a "Hope and Healing" service. The big
Christmas tree at the back of the sanctuary was entirely decorated with red AIDS
ribbons. Tom announced on August 19, 1996, that he would become a candidate for ministry. His first step would be to prepare for certification as a local licensed pastor. Faith offered Tom opportunities to preach one Sunday a month as well as financial support to meet his goal. About this time, the local Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) began an active campaign of stopping vehicles with Hispanic-looking, or speaking immigrants and deporting any that were undocumented. On March 29, 1997, Faith once again became a Sanctuary Church, this time on behalf of immigrants who were facing deportation or incarnation. Through quiet negotiation, the INS asked Faith to serve as a holding place for teenagers, women and children, while transportation for them back to Mexico or Central America was arranged. The congregation rallied to provide food and clothing along with towels and bedding. By December of 1997 as many as 25 young people had been at Faith at one time or another, but many more followed in 1998. It was understood by all that Faith was not jail - guests were free to come and go as they wished. The Church took no responsibility for making them wait for deportation, and many of them left with outside help to continue on their journeys. Once again, the stories that the congregation heard from our guests were totally different from what was reported to the media. Tom had become our lay pastor in August of 1997, and at one time, he was coping with as many as 12 teenagers at one time. Some of them helped tear off roofing shingles during our roofing project. Once, the INS was called by a neighbor to ask if they knew there were young Mexicans on the roof of Faith. Their reply: "Yes we sent them there." The tradition continued. This was a challenging time for everyone, but especially for the two pastors who were on call by the INS to take in a group with just hour's notice. At on epoint, Marsha took a woman with a baby and two or three young children with her to her home in Mount Vernon, rather than leaving them at the church. Many church people provided casseroles and other food in addition to money to buy food, clothing and personal items whenever there was a group sheltered at the church.; Marsha was recruited to serve as Campus Minister at the Wesley Foundation at the University of Iowa, and ended her ministry at Faith during the summer of 1997. With Tom at the helm, the church negotiated a large loan from the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church for some much needed repairs. The church had been so busy serving others, that the building had been neglected. Tim Fees encouraged a new organ. Other parts of the loan were used to buy new windows and siding for Fellowship Hall and to do some substantial roofing and repairs. It was a long-standing policy of Faith to offer the use of the building to groups from the community. The Gay & Lesbian Resource Center (GLRC) held two of their "Dinners Under the Stars" at Faith, one in September of 1998 and a second in September of 1999. Rainbow Days Pre-school requested use of Fellowship Hall when their previous space became unavailable. Again, the church felta the pre-school would open new opportunities to the church and neighborhood, and looked foward to expanding it's neighborhood outreach. (forward for additional history) Faith United Methodist Church |
