chap 9 paying attention

PAYING ATTENTION 245

9

Paying Attention to Each Other

Congregations and religious leaders operating in the first forty years of Omaha’s history typically came out forcefully on moral issues affecting citizens and community life. The religious style in the 1800s was to “tell it like it is” ~ or at least like you think it is.

The first half of the twentieth century brought more discreet responses from congregations and their leaders. Actions were taken and statements made in the first six decades of the century, but they were seldom announced in public and therefore were not covered in the local media. All of that changed in the sixties.

Getting Involved

In the last forty years of the twentieth century, many denominations were organized and vocal, and were covered in the media. The media went after news items which were not public. Though most congregations were never publicly identified, the concerns of people of faith about moral issues ~ especially those affecting the welfare of citizens ~ were discussed and presented in all types of forums within local congregations, and in associations of congregations and religious leaders.

As part of that, in the last forty years congregations demonstrated the dramatic shift in strategies as they created and supported over 100 new programs and initiatives to meet specific situations. Indeed, there are so many they can not all be described here.

An overview of religious-sponsored action shows the amazing shift of strategies in this time. It is almost as if someone opened a door to “New Resolutions about the Community” on New Years Day, 1960. Hopefully, concise summaries of the varied actions will help us feel the scope and impact of this remarkable development.

§What had changed? Older Jewish leaders are quite frank to say

that until 1964 they did not feel they had the right to speak out in

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public. “Rabbis would lose their credibility in the community if they did.”

Why 1964? That is the year that a Vatican Council stated that Jews are not “Christ-killers.” Most Christian leaders saw this statement as a “non-event,” getting around to saying what most Christians had thought for years. However, it was a change in reality for Jewish people and therefore must be a part of our collective memory.

Older Jewish leaders report that it would have been out of the question to speak publicly before World War II. After the war, reports of the Holocaust gave them a “sympathy audience” for quiet comment, but not a license to speak out about faith and injustice. They report there was no doubt about their right to speak openly within the congregation. Rabbis were not restrained. However, in public they were very careful.

Another major change came from the Second World War: black citizens had fought for their country and they no longer felt like stepping off the sidewalk to let someone else’s ideas go by. It took a while, and some had difficulty getting past the angry stage. But within twenty years leaders emerged who were willing to take on any establishment or privileged position.

Third change. Jews, blacks and low-income whites were seldom found in the professions before World War II. However, veterans returning home were offered college and professional training, without the restrictions known throughout the history of our nation. In a few quick years a new breed of teachers, doctors, lawyers and ministers were moving into positions of leadership. Usually they brought different perspectives.

Fourth, the gentle shapes of society in 1960 were never going to be that predictable again. “White flight” from integrating neighborhoods and schools had a devastating effect on communities and churches. ‘Old” families that had not changed a thing suddenly learned they had to change or get out. It was a symbol of the national scene as new leadership was forming and those long-silent found their voice. Life would not be the same again, and people were going to have to talk to each other if they were to share in planning their future. Some persons were not willing to do that.


Fifth, unprecedented prosperity in the fifties and the challenge to authority in the sixties provided a dramatically different stage on which these new leaders could act on their interests. Several unexpected events within synods and conferences of traditional Nebraska church assemblies illustrate this in striking fashion.

In each, the “old guard” brought in programs and budgets, honed through months [and years!] of committee work, as is the nature of church planning. The plans were presented to the final body for adoption. New leaders, sometimes in quite awkward ways, laid aside ~ or threw aside ~ the carefully-constructed budgets and replaced them with something considered more responsive to their new understanding of the human situation.

The good news: wise “old guard” heads heard the new drum-beat and responded by supporting the changes. It took a few leaders longer than others, but that it happened at all is indeed remarkable!

In view of the preference for tradition and business-as-usual among institutions, the changes were dramatic and fast. They were not fast enough for several black Christian leaders, who left the church and used other bases to effect change.

Community Relation Offices

Regional Christian and Jewish bodies, going by all sorts of “judicatory” names, formally organized or strengthened several agencies which could identify and respond to local issues. Almost all had a salaried staff, paid from assessments and contributions from the congregations. The five largest are described here. The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith [ADL] brought an office to Omaha in the 1940s. A national network has helped the Jewish community be especially alert to persons and groups with an anti-Semitic agenda. That sensitivity made League members active colleagues with other groups which were being oppressed. Harold Adler directed the work of the League and the more specific community action in the 1960s. Rabbi Sidney Brooks was a public participant, and active for justice. The first Christian organization organized in the midst of the turmoil was United Methodist Ministries, established in 1966 with the Rev. Jerry Elrod as Executive Director.

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In 1969, the Lutheran Church in America sponsored GOAL: the Greater Omaha Area Lutheran ministry. The Reverend Vic Schoonover was Executive Director. Later, the American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod joined the project. The name changed to Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries. The Rev. William T. Peters and soon the Rev. James D. Hargleroad were directors of Omaha Presbytery’s Commission on Church and Race. It became Presbyterian Metropolitan Ministries. The Catholic Social Action office had the Rev. Jerry Burback, the Rev. Jerry Millenkamp, the Rev. Jack McCaslin and the Rev. Vincent Mainelli in leadership and joined the other leaders to develop strategies to help in traumatic situations.

The above names were in the news often, representing their groups as they challenged conventional thought in the tense times.

The mission of these offices is well represented in the Lutheran statement of purpose:

to help solve “the Urban Crisis” to work with Blacks to open up opportunities in

employment, housing and education to work with predominantly white congregations in

Nebraska to improve understanding of the racial problem.

Their goals were unimagined in the 50s.

There was good cooperation by black pastors, but the funding was white and the expectation was that these leaders and boards were to keep pressure on white congregations to learn about the realities experienced by Black and Indian citizens, and of challenges to low-income white families.

This group of executive directors formed the core reflection and response team, varying the plan according to the issue. They each had a board and a system for “grass roots” input. Many other denominational groups joined in the projects, according to the interest expressed by members and leadership.

A new style of decision-making gave more flexibility to congregations which wanted to be more active. In the old days, even if there was not serious objection to a proposal, the idea would often


wiggle to a lonely death in the middle of the room, surrounded by benign inaction. Now, “We counted the ‘Yes’ votes.” Examples follow.

Variety of Human Services

“Human Services” is such a tiresome term, but it describes well what is meant. The number of new religious-sponsored service organizations since 1960 in metro Omaha is unprecedented in our history. Indeed, this movement has no similar model in any era of religious history.

A precise comparison to other cities is not possible, as a comprehensive look at caring services is seldom done. However, metro Omaha’s record in this unique period is impressive.

The following pages contain descriptions of new organizations which were planned by religious leaders or representatives and were supported by various groupings of members.

Not one of these projects had the support of all church members. Such is the nature of voluntary groups. If someone in a board meeting wants to take sandwiches to the homeless the wise leader counts the “Yes” votes to see if there are enough people to make it happen. The others need to find their own project. Those who did agree with a proposal on an issue formed the boards, volunteered as needed to direct the work, and gave the money to finance it.

Each denomination had its own style. For example, in reviewing the work of their denominations in this period, a leader of the Episcopal Church said they tended to give money to established agencies, the Lutheran pastor remembered that they tended to stress direct help to specific programs and the United Church of Christ leader said they identified projects which they urged local churches to support.

Racial Responses

The Urban Studies Center was developed by churches in 1969 to provide a setting for Nebraska and Iowa members to learn first-hand about racial difficulties and to offer sensitivity training sessions to businesses and industrial enterprises for helping their employees deal with human relations.

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The training for church members was bold and direct, but well received. Many a farmer had never met a Charles Washington, editor of the Omaha Star and long time activist, who had an unusual, colorful and direct style of telling what it is like to live in a white-controlled society as a black man. He was appreciated by rural folk, much to the surprise of local white leaders who had encountered the feisty Washington! Rural people were learning they had to be just as plain spoken to survive and they appreciated a good model.

The ‘school’ was located in Clair Memorial United Methodist Church, on north 25th Street. Subjects covered were: “Putting urban issues in perspective,” “Black Revolution,” “Black Capitalism,” “Racism,” “The church in the ghetto.” The Sponsors: Roman Catholic, Episcopal, United Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Lutheran Church in America and the United Methodist Church, which developed and guided the program. Religious groups backed state Senator Edward Danner’s Human Rights Bill in 1969. It allowed city councils to enact ordinances for the protection of human rights. Active supporters were Lutheran Church in America, the Anti-Defamation League, the Omaha Priest Senate and the Omaha Rabbinical Council, as well as the Omaha Legal Aid Society and the Urban League of Nebraska. Franklin Credit Union, formed in 1968, was given staff support and operational space by Wesley House in the Methodist Community Center. The purpose of the program was to provide consumer education, financial management and a system for saving for northside citizens.

Distrustful of banks, and often treated poorly by haughty bank personnel, many black citizens had no money account of any kind. They soon learned that here was a place that could help them, and when the Credit Union was discontinued through serious mismanagement twenty years later African-American leaders were ready to go into banks to work with white bankers, to become bankers, and even to help organize a new credit union. Project Equality began in 1967, with the purpose to persuade organized religious groups not to purchase goods or services from business firms which did not employ minority persons. Money for the budget was contributed by Episcopal, Presbyterian, Church of the


Brethren, Lutheran, Jewish and Methodist groups. Over 400 employers joined in the pledge.

When Project Equality closed down in 1973, the officers presented their remaining funds [$2,000] to the Urban League to support its jobs-skills bank. Operating like a bank with people as the deposits, the directors connected qualified minority persons with interested local employers. The Omaha Coalition Against Apartheid sought to put pressure on South Africa during the apartheid struggle there. With broad Christian and Jewish support, the coalition requested denominational pension fund boards and the City of Omaha to divest their investment portfolios of any corporation that did business with South Africa. The Omaha City Council ordered divestiture for city pension funds and asked other divisions of government to do the same. Most religious pension boards followed the divestment proposal. Laotian refugees who had escaped the turmoil in their country in the late seventies found an uncertain future when brought to the United States. Several Omaha congregations created local committees to help specific families with clothing, housing, food and language until they were able to find jobs. Methodist Hospital is a creative example of employers who arranged for work units with a director who could speak Laotian so that refugees with no use of English could be guided in the strange new world of American business employment.

§ A clever church-related effort unmasked racial hiring practices in Omaha. White and black volunteers contacted every business which had several employees, with a simple interview question: did this firm have any black employees? The Urban League Guild printed a list of all who said “Yes,” making no reference to those who were missing from the list.

On one weekend, those attending worship found on their windshields a document titled, “Businesses of Good Will.” Several employers who were not listed made strong objection, saying they had found one minority person in their plant [!] or they were planning on hiring one. The point was made and change effected. A significant religious organization coming out of the racial trauma of the sixties was the Concerned Organized for Urban

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Progress [COUP]. Vivian Strong, a fourteen-year-old black child, was shot and killed by an Omaha police officer on June 24, 1969. The officer was fired and later reinstated. Bail was set for only $500. The amount of bail enraged an already upset black citizenry. “Stealing a loaf of bread, for a black person, brings a bail of $300 or $400. What is one of our children worth?!” Riots that summer on the streets of north Omaha drew passion from the appearance of official indifference to a painful event. Black church response included four pastors who walked north 24th Street, day and night, for a long period. Individually, they would engage angry young persons in conversation, listening, urging a long-term perspective and pledging to stand with them in confronting injustice. Their tireless witness was especially effective.

When respected black leaders said, “We doubt the sincerity of the power structure,” the religious community formed COUP, to represent the wider community and make formal objection to city officials from the wider community. COUP was created by the religious community-relations offices named earlier: Catholic, United Presbyterian, Lutheran, United Church of Christ, Jewish and United Methodist, plus the Disciples of Christ Reconciliation Task Force. In the late nineties and in a climate that called for new methods, to reach both black and white church people, Trinity Interdenominational Church organized other pastors and churches in a plan to directly combat racism and to enable ministery with the poor.

Can We Talk?

An example of unexpected decisions made in a tense church setting is the 1969 session of the Nebraska United Methodist Conference, which stands as a key historical moment for many in the community. Threats of racial riot, nationwide shouts for reparation payments from white institutions to black groups, and local passions met the state delegates as they filled Omaha First Church the first week in June.

The term “Black Power” was born in this period and was quickly adopted as a positive wording in the African-American community,


where citizens proudly began to refer to themselves as “Blacks.” It replaced the “New Negro” consciousness language which dated back to the twenties.

Informal hearings at Omaha First Church went into the night. Black leaders spoke openly of their pain and hopes. Remarkably, the white audience, most of whom came from all-white communities, was able to set aside offensive language of demands for reparations, without even attempting to respond, and to join with old and newly-emerging leadership to state what the churches should do and could do.

Leadership teams, mostly white, had ‘perfected’ a dramatic plan for the newly united denomination to adopt at the first all-Nebraska meeting since forming. Some delegates “forgot to breathe” as they witnessed these hardworking new committee chairs coming back to the full session to state their carefully-honed proposal was not dramatic enough!

Extended, confrontational debate identified several black-supported projects. The leaders asked delegates to have their home congregations give $100,000 a year in new money to make it all happen. They did. A strong black-controlled bank, radio station and strengthened credit union resulted from this initiative. Other religious groups and a small but effective cadre of white business leaders who had key contacts were essential colleagues in making it happen. The fledgling credit union needed investment and several church bodies in Omaha stepped in with critical deposits.

The bank, at 52nd and Ames, was managed on a most conservative basis and succeeded. The radio station probably did more than the other projects to change the esprit de corps of the African-American community. They had a voice and their own sound! The bank and radio station were eventually sold, but they accomplished new objectives which were necessary for the seventies in Omaha.

Confronting Violence

From a safe distance, present readers may find it hard to imagine the turmoil in the community and the personal risk of being visible

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in that time. There were rumors that local [white business] money was being distributed to encourage uprisings. No one knew what weapons were on the street at a given time. [Thankfully, weapons were not in the quantities to be found in the 90s!] Quotes from the mayor, city council members, police administration and officers came several times a day and highly volatile individuals were calling for strong response from every side.

Changes were coming so fast not every one knew about them. Some were on board and some were left behind. Nervous people were wringing their hands that things would never be the same again. They were correct.

§One year later, on August 17, 1970, a bomb set off in a house

killed Officer Larry Minard. There was no doubt that it was a set-up, with a phony call for police to come [to an empty house] to help in a domestic disturbance. But there is continued doubt among many citizens as to who did it.

The neighbors remember that the police had that house blocked off for several days before the bombing, with much activity in the vacant house, and then completely left it for the day of the bombing. A 14-year-old child’s witness was critical to the prosecutor’s case. Under pressure, he changed his testimony during the trial. Community members observe that “Something was going on.”

The court said David Rice, a prominent young black Christian activist, was responsible for the plan. To report fairly thirty years later, one must say that those who knew him accepted the verdict as the judgment of the legal system, but they still do not believe it. They doubt the killer was a black person but they firmly state that killing a police officer is a terrible act, totally unacceptable. “The black community had to pay a price for this terrible act, and David was nominated” is a common comment.

The facts surrounding these two tragic deaths are no longer relevant to feelings. The reality is that the ambivalence of black and white citizens about the sad events affected the dialogue, trust level and reactions in tense events for the next thirty years, and will continue to be rehearsed within African-American walls every time Rice and his friend, Poindexter, come before the penal system for review.


A large number of arrests of black citizens in north Omaha in the next few weeks of 1970 added fuel to the passions. Omaha Human Relations director Roger Sayers urged blacks and police not to overreact to incidents and what was being said. An Omaha World-Herald editorial stated: “We have to pick up the pieces of shattered confidence and work harder to get along with one another.” 8-19-70 The next day the Sun Newspapers observed that “all of us lose a little of our humanity” in such tragic events.

COUP leaders and black pastors tried to provide for venting feelings and for a dialog that would help the community move on. At a clergy forum that proved to be controversial, leaders made a clear statement expressing sympathy and regret at the loss of life. They then gave the floor to three black and two white citizens they had invited to the forum. The guests were asked to “air their grievances” to the ministers, without any judgment or response allowed.

The Omaha Police and the press were critical because the police were not invited to be present and therefore could not respond to complaints. The leaders of the forum felt the tension was so great that they as pastors should provide for some time for protesters to “vent” without a target or the anticipation of a defensive response. It was a pastoral act, they stated. However, the media was there and reported on what each critic said to the ministers. The police felt that this put them in a most unfair position. No response was the rule of the forum, but not of the community when citizens learned about the comments.

Religious leaders made a public statement that citizens must deal with tensions and that the police should take the lead in improving police-community relations. Various voices called for minority recruitment to the police force, a police-citizen dialog, and some procedure by which persons who feel abused can file a complaint.

§In the November between these two traumatic deaths, the

International Association of Chiefs of Police [IACF] completed a review of the Omaha situation following the killing of Vivian Strong by a police officer.

They said there is a “noticeable and disturbing chasm between the police and the minority group persons they serve ..... Consultants

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received the impression that the rank and file [officers] look upon the concept of police-community relations as an isolated function completely divorced and distinct from routine police operations. [A program] will fail miserably if police officers are uninvolved ....”

The IACF had scores of recommendations. Their bottom line was sobering: “We believe the prevalent attitude of the police mirrors the greater attitude of the community as a whole.” [!] 80/11-24-69

A radical community justice group was formed by several black citizens, hoping to organize protection of citizens by citizens. They called for federal marshals to come to Omaha until accord was reached. Nothing more happened. COUP [1971] offered a $1,000 grant to start the process for providing an ombudsman for the city of Omaha, to help citizens work through their complaints. There was deep frustration among those who felt that “No one hears my complaint.” One black pastor’s observation symbolized the feeling: “They fire a police officer for breaking windshields but not for breaking heads.”

Four years filled with diverse voices and carefully-strategized official inaction passed before a new mayor called together a Task Force with broad representation: police and ministers, black and white, elected officials and neighborhood members. Addressing the subject helped. However, the frustration about a power system perceived to be unresponsive was a concern of many in the community and feelings did not change.

Thirty years later, the issue of trust remains a major issue in North Omaha. The gloss of many words is unconvincing and officials’ objections to possible effective solutions are evidence to residents of intentional stonewalling. Black leaders feel the professional evaluation by the International Association of Chiefs of Police has not received adequate response by officials. They long for the day when arrest and punishment are not affected by the color of a person’s skin.

At heart, it is not an issue of police performance, for citizens feel most do an excellent job. The issue is honest answers to troubling questions. “How can I get dependable information, or know that an unbiased person has reviewed the testimony?” is the type of question often asked by earnest citizens.


Following an incident, the police have private investigations, appropriately so. Persons know the full story is not available there. A citizens commission was appointed, to investigate questions about conduct of an officer. However, its members can not receive confidential information. Again, this is appropriate because private information can not be shared with a large volunteer group. Therefore, the minority community is left with no assurance that citizen questions have been answered. Distrust is increased, again understandably so.

In the hope of solving the dilemma, the City Council authorized a professional position, which had a record of developing trust in other cities. They felt a Police Auditor could be the professional who would review confidential material and assure the citizens that their questions had been asked and answered in a satisfactory manner. Even if they may not know the answer, troubled citizens can trust an answer has been given. Hopefully, case closed.

Supporters of the concept hoped it would also relieve unjustified criticisms of an officer in a much more efficient manner than the old system. They feel good officers need support.

The concept has been well received among the minority citizens but a few officials in Omaha express hesitation, which increases the distrust. The implementation is too recent to be evaluated and the future is not certain. However, no other alternatives for the rebuilding of trust have been proposed.

§ “Urban Update,” a consultation between black and white pastors during the troubled times, provided data for white pastors to share with their congregations. A one-day hearing at Augustana Lutheran Church in November, 1971, brought angry critique of the churches from black leaders.

They said “Black churches find it very comfortable to preach on Sunday and to minister to the sick and dying.” White churches “stick to their neighborhoods” and find it safer to give 100 baskets of food on Thanksgiving than to be honest with the membership about racism. 80/11-8-71 Mad Dads was begun in 1988 by a coalition of Christian leaders, in response to violence among young people. Strongly African-American, but welcoming anyone, the movement has emphasized

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the importance of adult role models and sensitive leaders and has been bold to talk directly with gang members and other threatening persons. Mad Dads has a favorable national response, with units in other cities and a national organization. The leaders of every major Christian group in Omaha publicly objected to the “October 6” attack on Israel in 1973, taking out a half-page ad in the Omaha World-Herald [10-12-73]. The attack was a major threat to the security of Israel, even though the war was short.

Social Services

By any measure, the Salvation Army is the most remarkable venture in religious volunteer human services in Omaha. They have been active in Omaha since 1877, having come to Omaha by the initiative of First Presbyterian Church . Family services, mentoring for youth, daily feeding programs and plain good caring reach thousands of persons a month. A new Adult Rehabilitation Center enhances the staff’s ability to help addicted persons adjust to life as they are coming off of treatment.

Christian without apology and including worshipping congregations, the Salvation Army has earned and received the respect of the broadest possible spectrum of businesses, congregations, clubs and organizations. Their annual fund raiser has every type of group ringing a bell. The dedicated efficient use of those donations is not questioned. The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross are the heavy-weights in our disaster response planning. Following the national disaster of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks, citizens are more mindful of the importance of the workers who prepare a response system that is appropriate for crisis situations. The coordinating style of these two agencies is a great gift to the community. Boys Town was begun as a home for boys in 1917 but during this period aggressively went into other areas of children’s need. The Boys Town Institute for Communication Disorders for Children has quickly developed a national reputation for quality research in children’s disorders.


Father Flanagan High School was founded in 1983 in North Omaha by Boys Town and continued for fourteen years to provide an alternative school for youth who were in trouble in other schools. It was a bold venture, with a well-thought target and heavy financial commitment, and was well-received by the community and by the youth who were given help. Boys Town made the decision that the money could serve better in a similar purpose elsewhere. The Boys Club, to become the Boys and Girls Club, had good church support when it was founded in 1961 as a place where boys could release energy in a supervised setting. Its mission was enlarged to give families support ~ especially single-parent families as parents and family tried to provide a stable environment for raising children. Boys and Girls Club progressed to the point where it was able to purchase the large Father Flanagan high school building in 1997. Masons and Protestant churches have built the Omaha Home for Boys into a major institution providing youth services to boys and girls. Begun in 1923, the Home has an impressive base campus at 51st and Ames and created new programs in this period. Cooper Farms, an extension of the Omaha Home for Boys, provides a similar range of services for boys and their families. An example of creative service is a shared program with Uta Halee to help boys and girls relate to each other in a supervised setting, in preparation for a return to their schools. Uta Halee was formed in 1950 by what is now known as Church Women United, a coalition of 14 denominations with a particular emphasis on service. Uta Halee’s mission has been to serve emotionally and behaviorally disturbed girls, ages 12 to 18, and their families.

It is now the only agency in Nebraska dedicated to full-range services for girls and, with families included, touches the lives of nearly 1,000 persons a year. The service is unique in providing programs all the way from consultation to psychiatric residence care. The United Methodist Community Center was especially effective in organizing programs for children and youth since it had a long-standing base in the community. Staff members have been the advisers and movers for Franklin Credit Union, the Community

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Bank, the black radio station, a housing program, an urban business center and the Community Equity Corporation. Project Embrace, an ambitious initiative by Lutherans and Presbyterians, provides a caring and tutoring program for children. Local churches operate in their neighborhoods, inviting children they feel could benefit by closer contact with a supportive adult. “Thrift Shops” provide an indispensable service in recycling clothing and household items, allowing persons who have good items to share them in a dignified way with those who can use them. Most thrift shops have a religious base. COUP asked the United Community Services [USC] in 1969 to set aside innovative dollars in each budget for emerging needs and met with a favorable response. Urban League built a beautiful family services center at 30th and Lake in the 90s, transforming a most unattractive corner. Services offered include career mentoring of high school students by business volunteers, disability and refugee employment counseling, welfare-to-work skills, support for minority youth in advance education, and advocacy for persons having difficulty accessing social systems. Refugee services have been offered to several nationalities by congregations in this period. It is tough duty! Housing, clothing, employment and personal support are provided, usually with the added challenge of a language barrier. The religious network has been well organized, but was challenged with the influx of hundreds of Sudanese who are victims of persecution. The Sudanese have a difficult language and an unusual culture.

§ Several major community service agencies were born. For example, three congregations in north Omaha joined in a community-service venture in 1979 that directed services to persons and families in the areas of Miller Park and Sherman. United Ministries of Northeast Omaha [UMNEO] sponsored the outreach of VISTA workers [Volunteers In Service To America], national mission teams, and local volunteers, usually basing the activities out of the facilities of the three congregations: Pearl, Trinity and Asbury United Methodist Churches.

Pearl and Trinity are in integrated neighborhoods, about equal in black and white residents, so their programs aggressively sought to


bring children and families together and to provide activities typical of several congregations in this type of setting. A gymnasium gave opportunity for after-school active games and basketball teams for older students. Support groups are a strong program, plus help for single mothers, Al-Anon, Ala-Teen, and caregivers. New Hope Bakery was created by UMNEO to provide job training for young adults who had three strikes against them ~ expelled from school, did not complete another job-training course, and fired from employment. Their remarkable teacher, Bob McLaurine, was a professional chef as well as a retired military man. He would quietly say to his board, “I can chew on them pretty good,” helping to change work attitudes. In a group of those who had so often failed, 80 percent made it to a productive life!

McLaurine’s hope that this could be a new minority business did not come to fruition. The classes catered a good number of events, but management-type leadership did not emerge to take it over and help it blossom. However, the students moved on to jobs.

§Commitment of congregations in difficult situations deserves

special mention in our historical experiences. Two congregations are described here, as outstanding examples of a dedicated core of members who dared to be innovative in the face of totally new, heavy challenges.

Pearl Church, on North 24th Street near Fort, always had a distinctive flavor. The members built the gym before the sanctuary because the neighborhood needed a gym. Numerous prominent city leaders were members and the congregation grew until it had 1,500 members in 1957. It had 835 ten years later, 338 members twenty years later and 261 thirty years later.

What happened is called “White Flight,” which had devastating effects on the community. In the late fifties, African-American families began to buy homes in the area of 24 th and Fort Streets and move in. This was bold for it was early action, but the Federal Housing Act of 1968 allowed all races to live wherever they chose.

Even before this, [white] real estate agents began to escalate the fears and prejudice of the neighbors. Families could receive several calls a week, seeking to list their home and reminding them that the

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value of the property will soon drop precipitously. They were told a quick sale was advisable.

Pastors and leaders in the area pleaded with members to stay put and adjust to their new neighbors. If no one sold, the value would be maintained and, indeed, if everyone could be motivated to fix up their homes the value could possibly increase.

Most church members were willing to accept new neighbors but they were very fearful of losing the equity in their homes. For some, their home represented their entire retirement savings. Enough residents did go for a quick sale that land values began to plummet, which brought more calls from real estate agents urging very quick action before the bottom drops out. The disturbing tremors in a community with “For Sale” signs popping out of half the yards created a deep depression among old-time residents and a most unwelcome feeling among the new residents. ‘Slum Lords’ gained.

In that setting, each congregation made its choices. Pearl, like several other congregations, chose to stay and to create new ministries appropriate to new residents. Its members chose to talk with each other instead of run and to support old and new as never before. They would never be the same and the cost was great. They report they found many of the changes to be a great blessing to them.

§The second congregation was caught in the crossfire of personal

emotions relating to race. Augustana Lutheran Church, at 38th and Lafayette, was a large congregation with a tradition of sensitivity to different kinds of persons.

The proposal [in 1965] seemed simple enough. The pastor asked the church board to approve a plan to ask willing couples in the [white] congregation to invite black couples from neighboring churches to their home for dinner. That was it. The denomination wanted to document how a local church can deal with a controversial issue and received permission to come in to film the discussion at the church.

The film, “A Time for Burning,” included interviews with black leaders. Released nationally, the film immediately gained popularity as a good discussion-starter in local churches and had wide use. But a few of the thoughts and feelings were too heavy for some


audiences and certainly provided too much publicity for the local church where it centered.

The pastor resigned, a new ‘reconciling’ pastor worked with the complex feelings for ten years, and the next pastor, who had earlier helped them rethink their mission, found a church less than half the original size. After a lengthy process in which they carefully reviewed their options, the congregation found their top priority was to stay in that location and to develop new ministries for its inner-city neighborhood and for the wider community.

Augustana was one of the first to take on Laotian families, even serving as the center gathering point for that population. During the study process Augustana initiated the Danner Memorial Children’s Center, an integrated pre-school in the church building. They have openly engaged controversial issues and continue to be one of the leading congregations in Omaha in openly dealing with issues of peace and justice.

§ Two denominations have used lobbyists in the state legislature. The Roman Catholic Church has a long-standing program, with a focus on such issues as abortion, civil rights, and parochial schools. Lutheran churches in Nebraska had a lobbyist for several years, official positions on subjects like farm legislation and prison reform.

Food

Omaha Food Pantries provide an astonishing amount of basic food items for hundreds of local citizens every week. Typically, a family is given a three-day supply of food, with a twice yearly limit. This is emergency help, not ongoing aid. An efficient computer communication network prevents abuse and detects heavy loads in specific areas. The production of the pantries is remarkable, with a single pantry serving as many as 10,000 persons in a year. The first pantry in Omaha was organized in 1969, offered by Lutherans from the First Lutheran site. The following year the Presbyterians began a pantry at First Presbyterian Church and the Episcopal pantry took shape at Trinity Cathedral. United Methodists organized at Pearl Church in 1972 and the Roman Catholic pantry began in 1974. Organized labor had major

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drives to support the pantry system beginning in 1975, and began its own pantry in 1982. The Omaha Food Bank was developed by several leaders of the pantries, to make use of food items which would be thrown away by manufacturers or distributors. United Way gave early support. Connected to the “Second Harvest” nationally, the organizing group went directly to businesses for food and to congregations for volunteers and budget.

A modest and inconvenient facility at 50th and Hamilton served at the start. Today, a large and efficient warehouse at 68th and “J” is the setting for managing surplus food. Generous corporate giving has let the congregations “spin off” a project that is now the major supplier of pantry needs, providing an even greater quantity of food for not-for-profit kitchens in a 15-county area.

§ National spending priorities brought many responses, including the Nuclear Freeze movement in 1980. The devoutly-religious group had a very simple message: since we now have enough atomic weapons to destroy the world twenty times over, we should not make any more. Freeze production of nuclear weapons and use the money for neglected areas, such as feeding the hungry.

It was a classic “Guns or butter” challenge to rethink priorities. The group was small but they drew strong reactions, including that they obviously were communists or communist dupes [a favorite term by which to sling mud without having to prove a thing], or they were anti-defense of the nation and therefore they were un-American.

Freeze activists of course felt they were helping to save ‘America’ from itself and to reprioritize a national budget which was going out of control. They felt the unprecedented growth of deficits in the 80s threatened human services..

There was quite a bit of humor in it all, though no one was laughing. The Republican Party adopted the Nuclear Freeze plan in toto in its platform for the 1988 elections. The nineties have brought serious questions about how we can take these weapons apart, and what should ‘America’ do when Russia started selling these old weapons to pay off its debts?


Housing

The ‘grandfather’ of housing innovation locally would have to be Kellom Knolls, north of the Creighton campus. Created by Omaha Economic Development Corporation ~ another spin-off of Wesley House ~ the original plan had a genius provision: this would be a natural community, with a variety of ages and a forced variety of incomes. Low income workers and Creighton professors lived next to each other and formed a community council. One test of success of this 40 year old venture: police calls are minimal. Another test: the development is growing, replacing a seriously blighted area. Holy Name Catholic Church created a housing program that became a model for others in the city and in the nation. The church set up a separate corporation with the mission to rehabilitate housing in the neighborhoods surrounding the church.

Holy Name Housing was innovative and business-smart. The basic financial plan was not hard to sell. We have countless stories, from them and from others who followed, of families who were given a boost financially as they improved their housing.

For example, an elderly person living on Social Security income was hard-pressed to pay $300 utility bills in cold months. But it was either that or leave. The housing corporation asked the home owner for permission to install a new furnace, insulation, caulking and storm windows. Using volunteers when appropriate, the project possibly could be completed for a total cost $10,000. The low monthly payments on the agreement and the new utility bills combine to be less than the utilities alone were.

Programs like Holy Name Housing concentrate on a neighborhood, to make more of an effect on attitudes and to restore property values. Vacant houses that were solid structures even though ragged in appearance were given by the city. The church housing group did a “re-hab” and sold the house to a family who now would be paying taxes as well as possibly going to a church. Neighbors begin to fix up. Everyone wins. HANDS ~ Housing and Neighborhood Developers ~ took the lessons learned from Holy Name and went one step further. Leaders hired northside professional persons to work with unskilled residents to rehab housing on a major scale. The city benefited from the

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careful management and so could direct larger sums to speed the work. In four years HANDS re-invested over $4 million in neighborhoods of north Omaha. Unfortunately, a new director could not comprehend the financial complexities of the plan and folded the operation. Omaha Habitat for Humanity has built or rehabilitated over 100 homes since its founding in 1984. Clearly faith-motivated, the movement is simple enough to declare we can all get together around a hammer and complex enough to seek out and receive properties while managing several simultaneous construction projects. New owners pay the bills on their home, without interest but with 350 hours of their own sweat equity. No government subsidy is involved.

Another Habitat rehab is a former fire station at 22nd and Ames, which provides an attractive and spacious central operations site. Mercy Housing creates new neighborhoods with attractive, modest homes, filling unused land and giving low income families a place of pride. They provide a growing asset in our community.

habitat house

The Grace Project of New Communities Development has created a stunning change in the area near 20th and Grace Streets. Spun off by Wesley House and with church connections all over the place, New Development leadership has a long history of experiences in trying to provide good housing for those who can not


get a loan to buy. Their study and occasional failure led them to a carefully constructed model. Apartment dwellers are screened, taught how to do home repair and maintenance, brought into neighborhood organization for personal support and are given a new look at life.

This allowed the city to proceed with a comprehensive approach for the nearby Logan-Fontenelle projects area, where all buildings were cleared and a new neighborhood of beauty and pride is being developed.

An Ames and 32nd Street site shows off another example of this work. New Community also provides intensive consultation to persons trying to start new businesses. A Catholic plan [1977] to move Dorothy Day House in order to provide better shelter for the homeless was challenged and supporters had to fight for acceptance. The discomfort of most citizens with homeless people, the objection of businesses to a downtown facility, and the clear hope that the homeless would not be induced to gather in “my” neighborhood extended the discussions for about three months before approval was given to locate at 20th and Cuming.

Active business support, with Lutherans helping, renovated the building. The present St. Francis House at 17th and Nicholas, with facilities to provide temporary housing for women and children as well as hundreds of meals daily, was built with strong business and community support. Congregations have been instrumental in creating additional housing for the elderly. Kountze Memorial, a good example, created a non-profit corporation to secure federal building funds and to manage the high-rise facility for low-income seniors near their church location. Twelve homes for the elderly, specifically religious in operation, offer assisted living services. Three religious groups have adult day care centers.

§Racial solutions are hampered by the segregation of residential

areas in the two counties. The historical reasons for the current situation have been well documented. They are not helpful in

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current solutions, though they are probably part of the motivation of recent leadership to seek action.

The Omaha World-Herald provided excellent current documen-tation that Omaha is a more segregated city than most cities its size. 80/9-25-01 Seventy percent of the 680 population blocks are under 10% minority or over 30%. Several are over 90% one race.

Segregated living greatly limits natural contact between races, which is one of the most effective ways to improve understanding of cultures.

Mayor Fahey has stated we must address racial issues but we have little effect on persons’ choices of where they live. He indicates the real issue which we can address is improving people’s economic lot in life. Omaha has a major challenge in its segregation. 80/9-25-01

Education

Parochial schools provide extensive, impressive educational opportunities for children and youth. That story would be its own book. The private colleges and universities of Omaha continuously provide new programs, well researched and staffed. For example, the College of St. Mary has aggressively pushed for women’s development and trained students on the critical importance of civil rights. Creighton, which was a pioneer in direct action on matters of race relations in the late 1940s, continues to be bold and innovative in relating to the needs of the community. This is remarkable for a national-oriented university, centered on highly-respected professional training. It is obvious the vision of programs for the new century will set a new standard for service to people. UNO had operated a Head Start program which they wanted someone else to take in 1973. Church leaders joined the board of a new Community Development Corporation which could implement that decision. Grace College of the Bible, founded in 1943, generated new programs for a racially diverse community in the latter part of the century. Students work through the Salvation Army to provide tutoring for youth who are being left behind.


A Presbyterian Seminary was established following the 1890s, when growing Omaha had 17 Presbyterian churches, the most of any denomination. It soon changed to provide the base for Omaha University [now UNO] and continues today as a platform for continuing education for church leaders. Omaha Lutheran Bible School, a three-year course of study, provides training for laity as well as church professionals. Tutoring is another area that has developed so fast one can not list all who are doing it. It is a model for direct intervention in a young person’s life, listening and caring as well as teaching. Adults give witness about how such ‘intervention’ turned around their lives. New Covenant Center in the 60s and 70s responded quickly with Catholic support for a wide range of human services and advocacy. They now let other agencies carry that mission and focus on non-violence education. Programs to help youth unhook from violent responses and a very strong offering of spirituality for adults are the methods.

Health

Visiting Nurses are an excellent symbolic place to start with the wonderful stories of how caring persons have developed new ways of health care in recent years. Many who are ill are homebound or too disabled to get out for regular health or therapy care. Starting with the outreach of a few small groups and continuing with hospital involvement, visiting nurses make a tremendous quiet impact within Omaha. When Immanuel Hospital left its location near Ames, Lutheran Churches spearheaded a movement to create the Community Plaza for Human Resources, using the abandoned facility. A wide variety of services, including medical offerings for nearly a decade, were provided in that way. The Indian-Chicano Health Clinic was established in 1970 in the parsonage of Gethsemane Lutheran Church near 20th and Martha. Later moving three blocks south, it was a model of caring for low-income persons. Supported largely by Lutheran and Catholic sources, a staff of fourteen volunteer health personnel from St. Joseph Hospital and Creighton provided the critical services. Today,

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service clubs and other churches have joined the effort, to help a fast growing Hispanic population receive basic human services.

Charles Drew Health Center [North Omaha] struggled in very modest effects in the 70s, wrestled with overwhelming need and far too limited resources in the 80s, and became the powerful ally of the health field in the 90s. Every kind of medical need is evaluated, treated or referred, through several outpoints as well as the main clinic on North 30th Street. A sliding fee means the most vulnerable of persons can find care.

Nurses training experienced major changes locally in order to meet the needs of the community. Specialties were added. Training for technicians was upgraded. Bachelor degrees in nursing greatly enhanced the offerings. As an example, the School of Nursing at Methodist Hospital went through major transformation and accreditation procedures to become Methodist College.

Hospital-initiated services and clinics would be a long printout! Though none of the hospitals are controlled by a denomination, most were created by a Christian group and are intentionally religious in purpose and program. Hospitals do everything from cancer support groups to Medicare and Medicaid counseling, to elderly nutrition, to home geriatric care, to physical therapy and rehabilitation, to equipment support for the disabled.

Abortion Rights debate involved both medical and religious communities and became a passionate debate. Demonstrations were organized on two sides of the issue, with pickets committed to regular times at clinics where the abortion procedure was known to be practiced and counter-pickets committed to regular times to help women move through the emotional gauntlet to get into a medical building. Politicians were targeted for their stands. Even candidates running for totally unrelated positions, as the board of a natural resources district, received calls from angry people, demanding to know how they stood.

Both sides are clearly committed to reducing the number of abortions, but have not cooperated with each other to effectively reach this mutual goal. Until some break in communication comes it is apparent there will be more heat than light, more talk than action.


§The listing of agencies means little unless we pause to think of the

people involved. Mrs. Alfrieda “Freddie” Ware, the director of the Indian-Chicano health clinic described above, was an amazing example of personal commitment to the Omaha community and its people. A full-blooded Native American, she was not always paid and she had no personal reserves. She was at serious financial risk.

At one point Freddie took a truck-driving course, qualifying her to handle the big rigs. She needed a backup job if funds finally ran out, as her kind of service can get lost in a large community. Who is the advocate for persons like her? She said that when she had no place else to turn a local congregation would come in with a gift for which they had been working and the clinic remained open.

Hospice

Omaha was without any health service similar to Hospice until members of one congregation took as part of their mission to start a Hospice in Omaha. Members of First United Methodist Church, Omaha, had read about a new way of serving persons who are terminally ill. Family members and friends, especially from places like London, reported it was a blessing when health care was tailored to the person who acknowledged that her or his life is short and to the family members who will share whatever life is left.

First Church set aside several thousand dollars in its budget each year starting in 1976, to “sell” the idea to the medical community. Physicians and nurses who supported the concept were the first to say that medical staffs were very resistant to the idea. They had been trained to get people well and some felt it was against their oath to “give up” on recovery and prescribe drugs which would keep the person comfortable but could become addictive.

Humorous stories were shared over coffee about patients near death who urged their physicians not to give them morphine to ease the pain “Because the last thing I want is to become hopelessly addicted.” That brought smiles, but no change.

Each year, a different internationally-known medical expert was flown into Omaha to address the medical societies on the subject of Hospice. One operated a highly-acclaimed Hospice in Toronto,

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another was a London consultant. Medical society members made the arrangements and the church paid all the bills for a few years. As the resistance in the medical staff decreased, their members’ funding increased, until the only involvement of the church was to provide for a temporary public “hotline” and a small office until Hospice providers could be organized.

Thirty years later, Hospice is an integral part of the medical offerings of Omaha. Its benefits have gone well beyond what those first dreamers thought could happen.

Personal Services

COUP members completed an extensive study of welfare in 1970 and presented their findings to the Douglas County Board. They interviewed directors of programs in other states as well as local clients. Too often clients were tied up in the workings of bureaucracy, both public and private. Many clients, they found, were intimidated by remote offices, short hours and harsh attitudes. Some were not intimidated and took advantage of the system. The report was well-received. An Omaha Women’s Job Corps Center was funded for Omaha in 1969 and the providers located the program in two downtown hotels. Church members groaned at the dignified but negative response from the Chamber board: “The present location must be considered a disruptive influence, hampering the continued business development and orderly growth of the principal area of our city.” The Afro Academy formed in 1969 and was supported by Our Saviour Lutheran Church. The congregation soon gave their building to the Academy, which was an outlet for black actors who felt they were not able to get into community theaters at that time. Our Saviour’s Urban Center sponsored a “Surviving the Future” program in cooperation with Dana College. The credit course was to acquaint students with the “real world” of inner city street life. Near the end of the course each student was given $3 and told to survive in the urban scene for 36 hours. Students witnessed bizarre scenes of “hopeless” addicts and their associates. In the evening, with no place for a bed, some sold their blood for $5. They had fresh questions about the options are for discouraged people.


dancing circle

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the premier example of service to and with Hispanic people. It is a complete, comprehensive program. La Casa del Pueblo ~ the house of the people ~ is just that. Located on South 24th Street, organized and supported by the United Methodist Church, it provides activities for children, sewing classes for mothers, English and/or translators for those who want it, and a connection to familiar culture. The Jewish Community Center offers one of the most comprehensive programs of services to the community. Churches and synagogues provide an extensive system of religious-based counseling services. The Eastern Nebraska Human Services Agency [ENHSA] and the Eastern Nebraska Office On Aging [ENOA] may seem out of place here but they are life-giving extensions of the determined efforts by congregations, beginning in the 1870s, to develop a public policy that the crises of people deserve the attention of the entire community. Both groups wrestle with human service needs which have no easy answer and creatively use religious and community volunteers to plan, evaluate and implement answers.

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ENOA, for example, has offices to develop strategies in five counties: senior companions, foster grandparents, services to help keep a person in their own home, handyman volunteers, transportation for the elderly, library and entertainment for those lacking mobility, assisting families caring for individuals with dementia, case management for difficult situations, counsel on senior care options, Meals on Wheels and nutrition services, employment possibilities, respite care to relieve providers in the home, health maintenance, and advocacy when programs do not meet the need.

Their comprehensive caring for the elderly is an amazing contrast to life without community support in the 1870s!

Other Services

The Omaha Housing Authority [OHA] high rise occupants, when asked in 1970 what needs were not being met well, put worship services high on the list.

After an initial debate about separation of church and state, OHA offered the room and a coalition of Christian groups planned a schedule and assignment providing a service in every home each Sunday afternoon. The first participants were Lutheran, Baptist, United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian. “Adjusting to Divorce” seminars began in 1973, sponsored by United Methodist and Lutheran Metro Ministries and supported by Family and Child Services of Omaha. Leaders were unable to find one single congregation willing to provide space for this controversial subject so the first sessions were held in Northern Natural Gas facilities.

The six-session offering became so popular that five years later congregations were asking to be co-sponsors in their own buildings. The course was well-researched and became a national model. A spin-off was an “Adjusting to Widowhood” course, begun in 1974. “New Beginnings” is a Catholic-sponsored course which began in that time and has been enthusiastically received in the community. New Creations is an ambitious, well-planned half-way house, with a focus on addiction, operated by Mount Sinai Baptist Church.


The same group of sponsors cooperated with Joslyn Museum to provide the “Omaha Flow System” in 1973. The basic premise was that anyone [!] should have a chance to try out being an artist. “You Are the Star” and “Shine Out” were the titles and the message for arts opportunities for children in low-income families. Trinity United Methodist became the site for an annual offering of classes in music, art and drama, led by well-known professional artists of the community. Social work was determined to be a major need in Omaha’s near north side and Wesley Church was built at the same site as the oldest social service group in the country, to emphasize the close relation that exists between worship and service. The combined agency played a major role in the work of the civil rights movement described in a later chapter.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America moved its headquarters for Bethphage Mission to Omaha in 1992. A long history in Nebraska as well as nationally gives Bethphage Mission a special niche in records of services to persons with developmental disabilities. Work is done in eleven states.

Adoption services are provided by Child Saving Institute [CSI], a creation of the Disciples Church, the Jewish Community Center and Catholic Charities. CSI trains and counsels foster care parents, an important component in serving children in disrupted families.

Professional legal counseling is used by Hispanic residents to help them relate to the Immigration Service. The strategy was developed by United Methodist Ministries in 1999 and operates with volunteers from several denominations.

Shelter and counsel for women and children in abusive relations is provided in a secure location by Catholic Charities.

Organizations such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Ala-Teen simply would not have made it without congregational support. Mothers Against Drunk Driving was not organized nationally as a religious group, but it was formed in Omaha by active members of Jewish and Christian congregations, to try to do something about unnecessary death and injury on streets and highways. Support for victims of this crime involves congregations and pastors.

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Campus of Hope is a quiet spot on North 16th Street with a dynamite punch. The very attractive campus has four connected building pods surrounding a flowering courtyard. This creation of Catholic Charities is our main local facility for the treatment of drug addiction.

Campus of Hope provides facilities and staff for 84 patients/clients, who range from the woman who wants to become drug free to the man shaking with delirium tremens, brought in by police to dry out. Every type of drug addiction is included in the program. The author is in position to verify that this campus saves taxpayers millions of dollars every year, in present and future costs.

§Five major “Community Services” offices, established to be

specifically religious, were listed earlier as forming the catalyst for church and synagogue initiatives in response to the trauma of the 1960s. Incredibly, all five continue strong programs and have active plans for the new millennium. It is interesting that they remain the five major cooperative religious groups for research and response to local needs.

The programs for the five agencies in 2001 are as follows. Catholic Charities provides Domestic Violence services, with a shelter for abused families, Campus for Hope drug treatment, counseling centers, intensive family therapy, food pantry, HOPE for women to gain skills and escape poverty, adoption, low income apartments, clothing and services for the poor, including a volunteer program, immigration counseling, business and work advice, and food and support services for Hispanic persons and families.

Presbyterian Outreach is the new name for Presbyterian Metro Ministries and provides volunteers and program for respite care, a large inventory of medical equipment for loan to individuals and families, scholarships to help inner-city youth [usually non-church] to go to summer camp, School of the Arts, which currently has 350 children in sessions that introduce them to the arts and help them develop artist skills, and a prison ministry which delivers gifts to Nebraska prisoners at Christmas and provides an art course for youth offenders who are in corrections in Omaha.


Lutheran Metro Ministries continues its key role in the pantry program with three outlets, supports Project Embrace, the comprehensive youth support program established in the 80s, Dorothy Day House for daytime service for homeless persons who do not usually use the night shelters, emergency assistance for a wide variety of needs, and information referral information for resources in housing, jobs and education.

The Jewish Community Center is the only one of these located in west Omaha. The Jewish Federation is an umbrella for the community center, drama and arts, services to elderly who are well, the Rose Blumkin home for residential care, family services including counseling and adoption, a social center for adults, physical exercise facilities, a center for child development, teen social and educational offerings, a day school, and a very ambitious program of education for adults, children and youth.

United Methodist Ministries is the umbrella for La Casa del Pueblo and the extensive Hispanic ministry in south Omaha and at Grace Church, Wesley House which has a present focus on education for youth who are in difficulty and also has a variety of family services, the community center operated by Clair Church on Ames Street, after-school programs at Trinity and Dietz, and the new Justice for our Neighbors, which provides attorneys and trained volunteers to help sort out the situation for hundreds of persons, through the Immigration Legal Clinic.

§A plug for volunteers is appropriate. If a reader would like to

help in any of the current programs in this chapter, be assured that volunteers and funding are the two most difficult challenges in these projects. Training for new skills is available.

Organizing for Study and Action

Religious groups take moral positions which are well thought out and often are a product of centuries of private reflection and open discussion. However, they are notorious for not trusting each other for cooperative efforts. Ask any members if they are ecumenical in thought and action and they will be quite positive in response, but will be able to think of only a few specific examples.

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They have sung together at a Thanksgiving Service and prayed together for healing of illness or to counter violence. They have actually cooperated in only a few matters, even when as non-controversial as supporting motherhood. Members tend to keep their ecumenical initiatives [defined as among Christians] in their pastors’ names. Their inter-faith interests [defined as relating various faiths such as Christian, Jew, Hindu and Moslem] are difficult to discover. Only two community-wide interfaith worship services were held in the last twenty years.

This lack of cooperative response has allowed evil to prosper on too many occasions, as witnessed by religious leaders for centuries.

The social ills of the middle ages were the subject of continuous prayers, but the praying congregations seldom organized to give relief to the victims. From the beginning evidences of slavery in this country, strong moral stands were expressed, but they organized too late to save the nation from establishing an economic system which depended on slavery. Religious people did organize to change state laws, and New England churches cooperated to change the slave vote in Kansas.

Pastors in Germany have said that if the Christians and Jews had organized to resist the patently immoral goals of Hitler he would have been stopped in the mid-thirties. Martin Niemoller, a national leader of Christian Churches in Germany, made eloquent witness to his belief that Christians could have stopped the Holocaust if congregations had cooperated in major resistance. He said they remained silent as each group was attacked. “By the time the Nazis came for me, there was no one left to protest.”

§Can anyone doubt that the congregations of Omaha could have

stopped Tom Dennison in his control of the city? By 1912, citizens knew enough of what was happening to realize that criminal elements were taking charge. The evidence was in print, in the daily newspapers. Members of congregations were being shaken down. Pastors pecked at little sins because that was what people could agree to.

A pastor who pounded on the pulpit against alcohol was declared to be bold. Obviously, he could have been a complete coward.


Boldness would have been to move past what everyone agreed to and speak to the greed which was driving the system.

Organizing in a time like that would have involved extensive research by members, not just pastors, study of consequences by members and disciplined dialog with members in every congregation in town. It probably would not have come to a showdown. Tom Dennison was smart and would not have confronted strong organization. He moved into a vacuum.

§ Several cooperative efforts have been organized in Omaha, mostly among clergy. Omaha Metropolitan Association of Churches was an honored long-time association of mainline congregations following WW II. The Association initiated a number of activities which cultivated ecumenical friendship, with a special emphasis on clergy training. A central office, with Dr. Ernest Smith as Executive Director, provided visibility in the community. It was a movement ‘on the side’ and slowly faded away. The Greater Omaha Clergy Association [GOCA] is an extension of the association of churches. Its main focus is to provide a forum in which community leaders may address clergy. The membership has always been very broad, and small in numbers. Companions to GOCA are numerous regional ministerial associations. The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Metropolitan Omaha [IMA] was created in 1976 by black pastors of north Omaha, but it is open to all ministers of the city. Its mission is to do together what a congregation can not do alone: plan community celebrations of faith and speak plainly about injustice.

The united voice is of the pastors, not their congregations. Each year, IMA sponsors a large community event and a worship service to honor the memory and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The proceeds are used to help families with emergency needs. ISAAC was born in the 80s. The Interfaith Social Action Advocacy Council was Jewish, Catholic and Protestant, black and white, east and west Omaha, university chaplains and pastors. The group studied justice issues within the community and involved as many as possible in seeking responses.

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Coach Tom Osborne was key note of a breakfast gathering that focussed on inner city questions and the group also was invited to come to rural communities to consider the challenges to agriculture.

§These associations have had a positive effect and are appreciated

by many pastors. However, they have not been effective in dealing with community problems and did not involve laity in those concerns.

For ten years, pastors of several denominations met regularly to study and discuss how to represent religious values in a more effective way in the community. They decided an organization would have to be broadly based ~ including representation from several faith-groups, at least three races, and all the areas of Omaha. Such a group would have to be committed to listening to the grass roots for ideas, to extensive dialog with members of other congregations and to researching every selected subject so thoroughly that the data could not be successfully challenged.

The result of the extended study was the formation of Omaha Together One Community [OTOC], an association of 43 churches and synagogues in metro Omaha. OTOC was created in 1990 for the purpose of giving a stronger voice to citizens who are left out in public policy, and for community improvement. It sought and received professional leadership from the Industrial Areas Foundation, a national corporation which specializes in community improvement through congregations and is assisting studies and activities in seventy cities in the United States.

OTOC was immediately challenged as a power group that was “too radical,” had a “paid organizer” and was intent on “creating trouble.” The press had complimented churches for speaking out, or chided them for failing to speak out, on subjects such as Auschwitz, racial practices, gambling, gun control, open housing, drunk driving, pornography, soil and water conservation, women’s rights, and refugee resettlement. Religious leaders were brought to fell that doing more than talk appeared to be a threat to community leaders who hopefully would be grateful for the help.

Leaders of the congregations were criticized when a few in civil authority stated that speaking out on issues represented “power.”


OTOC members were told in the press that citizen power was somehow not consistent with the power of prayer.

OTOC members spoke plainly but they were committed to doing their homework. They did indeed pray, and the broad constituency was regularly involved in study, prayer and discussions in the homes. Major issues in the 90’s were library services, youth and education, safe housing, job training, sewer separation, police-community relations, the new OPS plan to replace the de-seg program in 1999, and the convention center/arena proposal.

OTOC decided in 2001 to be advocates for better working conditions for Mexican immigrants, who were afraid to speak for themselves. Though many charges were filed against the employers for grossly unfair practices on a vote to help resolve working conditions, the intimidation worked and the legal process is slow. The community at large did not seem to care about the abuses. OTOC was criticized for being involved in an issue that is not popular. The criticism is complex and, again, carries its own humor and questions. The prophets in scriptures did not have popularity as their first priority.

Success in some of these issues was obviously greatly helped by having a city-wide constituency. However, of greater importance within the movement is the excitement a large number of citizens feel when they begin to study, discuss and speak to serious issues of the community. The community has several voices which object to citizens’ action, so the enterprise will never be non-controversial, whatever the subject. Open discussion, with a some sense of humor, may help the entire community to work together.

A Tornado Brings Omaha “Together”

The Tornado Task Force, created within three days after a May 6 ,

1975, tornado, “was the largest cooperative effort of religious groups in over twenty years,” according to its chairman, Dr. Alva Clark. 80/ 7-19-75. Less than 1% of the donations was spent on administration.

The congregations’ representatives and agencies cooperated fully with each other, so that credit for programs is difficult to assign. In general, the Red Cross took the load of the first emergencies and the congregations accepted responsibility for long-term care.

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A partial list of the work of Christian and Jewish congregations: offerings to provide extra support for food pantries, feeding stations in churches, hot meals delivered, storage for belongings of victims, child care, clothing, lost and found center, and mental health counseling which continued for years. Door-to-door volunteers looked for persons who were in too much shock to ask for help. Hundreds of volunteers, from lawyers to carpenters, were recruited and put to work.

Mennonites from several states came to lend their expertise in home-building. They worked for two months, during which time congregations provided their meals.

Probably the most surprising fact of this task force is that it is stronger 25 years later! When the work was done and life could get back to some kind of normalcy, the treasurer had a large sum of money left over. Leaders of the congregations which funded it reasoned that donations had been given for an emergency and therefore the reserves should be used in a similar manner in order to keep faith with those who donated. With this objective, they created Together, Inc., whose mission is to respond to emergencies that the county, city, and congregations are not meeting. Cooperating closely with the pantries, for example, the new board found there were families who had a crisis far beyond three days of food. Travelers stranded in Omaha because of accident or theft, and new residents for whom the expected job was delayed are two examples of persons for whom Social Services can provide little help.

Together had several tough years, when congregations forgot about emergencies of strangers in our midst. The county was most grateful for a place where desperate people could turn, so provided some funds, but they were never more than 10% of a very tight budget. Together became expert in sorting out transient abusers who are adept at hitting a busy pastor for $10 for gas. Wary pastors sent Together a lump sum and began to refer the transients.

In the nineties the business community joined the congregations in seeking an appropriate building and a stronger financial structure. Together, Inc, continues to have one of the broadest community bases for emergency reference in Omaha and operates out of an excellent facility at 16th and Cass.


Controversial Decisions

Omaha Public Schools faced a court-ordered desegregation plan in 1976. The Chamber of Commerce was concerned about public acceptance of the plan and took some bold steps toward that end. “Concerned Citizens of Omaha” was formed by religious leaders to give support to the Chamber emphasis. They urged pastors to encourage action within their membership and held events, such as a rally in Elmwood Park, with a picnic and school jazz band concert.

In June before the critical September of the new ‘de-seg’ program, church leaders stated in the Omaha World-Herald:

“The road [for our community] does lead somewhere. It can lead to more distrust and fear and separation. Or, we would like to think that in Omaha the road can lead to cooperation, peace and an honest willingness on the part of citizens to agree to implement integration peacefully and purposely.”

§Though gentle “encouragement” seemed to be the safer order of

the day, there were those who had clear focus and intent in helping the de-seg program. Katherine Fletcher, the new [African-American] principal at Laura Dodge School near 90th and Maple, knew she and her school had one year to prepare for whatever busing would bring. She was a bit apprehensive when the white pastor from across the street came to see her.

The visit began a beautiful experience. The Rev. Tom Perkins wanted to know what he and his congregation could do to help. She and he devised an interesting plan. He invited all the pastors of the area and she invited other principals to a joint strategy session. “What challenges/opportunities will we be facing?”

Quietly and thoroughly they worked on the questions and solutions. What if a large number of children from Lothrop, their partner school, were stranded at Dodge because of a storm? What if a single child were stranded? What will happen when a child becomes ill and soils her/his clothing ~ with home miles away?

Members of the churches joined with the teachers in answering every question. They developed a list of volunteers who had access to snowmobiles and could take an apprehensive child home after a

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crippling snow. Homes were signed up as safe places. Clothing in various sizes was brought to the school. Extra food was stocked by kitchen help.

At Lothrop, after exchange visits by teachers, students and parents, similar plans were in place. There were problems in the first year of busing, but at these two schools the principal remembers with gratitude the problems were not racial.

The de-seg plan was continued for 23 years, when it was replaced by a neighborhood attendance plan, removing forced busing. The action is much too recent to evaluate. Criticism and praise abound, but obviously the several-year plan is not yet fully implemented.

The significant factor for congregations is the high commitment of school, community and religious leadership to work together to improve the quality of education, especially in low-income neighborhoods. That is the crux of the matter. Success will not be possible without strong support from parents and community leaders.

§We will close this section with one of the most fiery issues in the

seventies. OHA proposed “scattered-site housing” to help relocate low income families. That meant the families could be settled anywhere in the city. Angry and sometimes abusive letters and phone calls kept the media bubbling. Religious leaders responded, urging more temperate consideration:

“For the past 12 years, we have worked in this community and have been involved in .... the issues that had to be faced: the riots in the late sixties, police-community relations, the striving for quality education, open housing, a just distribution of United Way funds, full employment, housing, adequate health care for all, crime prevention, emergency food services, and improved legislation for the poor, the divorced, the imprisoned ....

“All of these issues have made some kind of impact .... But in every instance there were confrontations. Confrontations with fear and prejudice; confrontations with the demand ‘to leave things as they are’ ....


“There, just under the surface, goading our anger and often robbing us of reason, were the negative feelings of class and race .... the suspicion of those different from me.”

[80 - Another Point of View, 6-13-78]The article serves as an excellent summary of major issues which

confronted Omaha citizens and congregations from 1965 to 1980.Hate Groups

Omaha has been spared regular negative publicity created by hate groups. Though statements have not been public, support for the attitudes of such groups has been privately voiced in relation to three classes of people: African-American, Jewish and gay persons.

When an anti-gay “Christian” group came to Omaha to call for the destruction of gays, several congregations strenuously objected. But many members have lamented that when a gay is cruelly killed another member will say, “That is one less of them.” Similar, but fewer, cruel comments are made about Black and Jewish persons.

The personal failure, according to several of these members, is that he/she did not object to the statement. “I would rather keep the peace than challenge someone.” National trackers of hate groups have stated that the silence of good people has allowed the groups to grow and survive. The sin of silence has allowed some abhorrent attitudes to grow. Gratefully, Omaha has many positive witnesses.

Omaha has a Hate Crimes office as part of the city administration, as one of five national pilot projects. A bold new project, giving an anti-dote to hate and prejudice by lifting a person who proclaimed a positive dream and dared society to take action, the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial is a major redevelopment of 24th and Lake Streets.

The project will feature quality displays and a state-of-the-art classroom for use by schools and congregations. It is a cooperative plan by Christians, Jews, businesses and the city of Omaha.

Native American MinistriesThe status of Native Americans has been at the bottom of the

totem pole in the class structures of United States. That is definitely the case in Omaha. Black and Hispanic movements have helped

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those persons gain some access through the doors of systems, but the status of native peoples has changed little.

Impatient for quick access to land, the federal government foolishly promised to care for all the descendents of a few tribes “as long as grass is green.” Worse, in demeaning paternalism, the Bureau gave land to Indians, declared them unable to manage it, and then pocketed the millions of dollars profit from the forced agreement. One is hard put to find a treaty which was kept.

Since this book deals with religious connections and local Native Americans specifically ask that they not be confused with the Native American Church [Oregon], the term ‘Indian’ will be used for church references.

Accounts from pioneer days told of many actions of religious people in relation to the native peoples. Several Christian denominations have maintained churches and agencies on Indian reservations since that time. However, there was not a concerted effort to plan a better way until the changed mode of planning of the last forty years. In the seventies, Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska [IMN], the only statewide organization open to all denominations, raised the question of more effective Indian ministry. IMN does not provide a program or even the question. It provides the umbrella for discussion when a denomination wishes to ask others for help and it can give guidance to developing a response if requested. Each project has its own ecumenical coalition.

The openness ~ and the humor ~ of this process is well illustrated in the proposal by one of the denominations to have conversation with Indians. IMN officers met with Indian representatives and shared their intentions: “How can we help? We are not here to recruit new church members, but to assist if we can or get out of the way if we can not.”

The immediate response was a request for help, but with the additional request that every tribe and group should be at the table. “We can not represent each other like you can.” [Like who can?]

The church representatives naturally agreed to expand the group. How many places at the table will that take? After some consultation, the Indians answered: “Twenty six.” Indians privately


enjoy their observation about Custer’s mistake: he thought he was meeting with a committee. It was a group.

The total group ~ Indians, church leaders and Nebraska state officials ~ met and developed a variety of plans into which went a great amount of personal effort and church resources. Nebraska’s Indian Commission was developed at this time. Extended help was given to persons who really needed it, but the frustration and failures were many and continuous. It was 26 interests, often not related. A recurring request was to establish Indian churches in Omaha and Lincoln. Eight denominations joined in 1989 in one of the most unusual negotiations in Nebraska Christian history. None would have any chance to benefit from the venture. The membership would be in the local Indian church and not in any denomination. No participation in any denominational projects was anticipated, nor did it happen. The eight: Episcopal, Lutheran, United Methodist, United Church of Christ, American Baptist, Church of the Brethren, Christian-Disciples of Christ, and Presbyterian.

A full-time ordained clergy, preferably Indian, would be provided, to be shared by congregations in Omaha and Lincoln. Native traditions and spirituality would be respected and incorporated into the services. The denominations committed to several years of financial support, to give the venture a chance, and agreed to provide a consultation team for each congregation.

In Omaha, the Lutherans offered a fine building at a low cost. The Disciples of Christ offered to pay for it, plus some renovation. Work teams from Omaha congregations came to do the labor and to enjoy the fry bread offered by excited members of the new congregation. Two full-blooded Indians have been among the pastors.

Many excellent services have been provided by the Omaha Indian Church to the Indian community. However, the large building proved to be too much to handle, so it was sold and the congregation moved to share facilities with Castelar Presbyterian Church. The Omaha pastoral duties have been split off from Lincoln and are shared by Lutheran and Episcopal ministers. The congregation depends on the support of Omaha congregations for its leadership team.

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Interfaith Potential

A major addition to the Omaha scene in the last part of the twentieth century was the establishment of congregations which were in addition to Christian and Jewish.

Hindu citizens organized in 1992 and were able to establish their temple at 130th and Arbor Streets in 1994.

The Omaha World-Herald reported 700 names on the mailing list of the Hindu temple. 10-17-98 Closest neighbor congregations are in Kansas City, Minneapolis and Denver.

Most Omaha Hindus are Indian immigrants, so “the temple is a social, cultural and educational center as well as a house of worship. The major Hindu holiday of Diwali ~ “the Festival of Lights” ~ is in the fall and “combines ... the puja [worship service], a business meeting, folk dancing and food.”

A congregation leader said the temple provides children with a sense of identity, that “Children need to have a base, and new people gain a sense of belonging.”

Moslem Services recognize another interesting addition to our community, from a different culture. The Islamic Center of Omaha began on the UNL campus and now holds services on North 72nd

Street and is planning ambitious expansion.Baha’i claims to be interfaith on its own. Baha’i respects the

prophets and historic spiritual leaders of Jewish, Christian and Moslem movements, as well as many others. Since all serve the same God, Baha’i teaches that the groups are equal and can meet together under the Bahai umbrella.

A Baha’i congregation has met in Bellevue and a new congregation has formed on North 60th Street in Omaha.

§We began this chapter by stating that in the last forty years of the

20th century, congregations in Douglas and Sarpy Counties accomplished an amazing feat. They responded to racial and human needs crises by creating dramatically more programs and agencies than at any time in our history. Nothing compares with it.

The list of projects is not complete, for it does not include efforts in smaller communities and the unpublicized actions of many of our


500 congregations. These actions also represent new ways of response to people’s questions and needs.

We have described well over 100 initiatives and new organizations, symbolic of sensitivity to human hurt and of the desire to develop the promise of persons’ potential.

Whatever our shortfall in such a challenge, it is time to celebrate. We have been paying attention to one another, have gained some ground, and know how to keep going.

chap 9 paying attention

Education

years leaders

years congregations

religious leaders

new years day

new programs

new leadership

christian leaders

new resolutions