CORY MORSE A beacon of peace, welcome R
obert Linstrom serves up a nice double entendre when he describes how the guys at Bea- con Specialized Living Services had trouble finding a church home before they “came to Peace.”
But that seems to be exactly what happened to about 10 mentally dis- abled adult men who visited Peace Evangelical Lutheran in South Haven, Mich., nearly three years ago. “The first Sunday they came they were welcomed,” said Linstrom, pas- tor of Peace. “Sure, there were some eyebrows raised and some appre- hension, but they were generally welcomed.” A couple of members even came forward and asked if they could “shepherd” the men in their congre- gational involvement. Ken Ratzlaff, Beacon president/ CEO, said Peace’s welcome has made all the difference to the home’s residents, who previously were liter- ally “kicked out of churches.” “These guys normally walk in
Sevig is a section editor of The Lutheran. 16 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Men from group home are ‘part of the family’ By Julie B. Sevig
with their heads down because they are so used to being ignored or shunned,” Ratzlaff said. “What Peace has done is given our people some self worth. They’ve actually been greeted like human beings. You don’t know how important that is. We are so grateful ... this is beyond words.” The men attend Peace Cafe for a full breakfast before the service, and then sit together at worship. They also pitch in like other parishioners. “They do really well at worship and they want to be here,” Linstrom said. “The whole congregation has become more welcoming” and the men are part of the family. Linstrom’s sensitivity to wel- coming those with mental illness is heightened because his wife’s brother who has paranoid schizophrenia hasn’t been as fortunate in finding an accepting church home in Wisconsin. At Peace, Linstrom heard concern from only a few folks. But one day at Peace Cafe, Helen Sharp, 96, entered into a conversation with a youngster who was put off because, as Sharp
Jeffrey and Daniel (last names withheld) sing hymns at Peace Lutheran Church in South Haven, Mich. The two, residents of Beacon Specialized Living Services in Bangor, have been welcomed into the faith community of Peace. Debra Geary, a worker at Beacon, helps Jeffrey get breakfast inside the Peace Cafe prior to worship.
puts it, “the [men] are a little ragged around the edges.” Sharp told the girl: “We run into people all over the world, not just here in church ... we need to live together.”
The relationship with the men has strengthened the congregation’s welcome, hospitality and service, Linstrom said. When members dis- covered one of the men didn’t have proper footwear, they bought more than 80 pairs of boots for them. And the church’s Cozy Quilters made quilts for every bed at the homes. Randy Davis, the lead organizer of Peace Cafe, has been a proponent of the Beacon guys’ involvement from the beginning, Linstrom said. It’s not unusual for Davis to go to Beacon homes during the week and pick up a couple of the guys to help him at church or at his farm.
One of those helpers would likely
be William (last name withheld), who felt welcomed at Peace from the moment he came. Now he wears a suit on Sundays and was baptized last year, causing Linstrom to say again how natural the addition of the Bea- con men has been: “We’re the body of Christ together.” And in this body, William and others are not only finding peace but love. Some of them “hear voices,” Ratzlaff said, “but they still under- stand love and compassion. And they understand that these people [at church] love them.” M
CORY MORSE
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