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'Anchored in Peace" to be a gigantic community picnic

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By Mary McCarty, Staff Writer 12:29 AM Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Rev. Barbara Wiechel didn’t feel like answering when the boy rang the buzzer at Fairview United Methodist Church.

“I’m really thirsty,” the boy said, and Wiechel thought, just for a moment, about not responding to his plea, not interrupting her work. Minutes before, she had happened across the Biblical passage saying, “I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” So she set aside her paperwork and invited the child in for a glass of water, recognizing him as one of the neighborhood children from the church’s “summer fun” program.

The boy had gotten the message: Churches are safe havens in a world of violence and uncertainty.

Wiechel said a prayer of thanks that she hadn’t let him down. “God was testing me,” she said.

The incident is a microcosm of what northwest Dayton churches are doing this Sunday, Aug. 23, with an “Anchored in Peace” celebration from noon to 2 p.m. It’s a gigantic community picnic taking place at College Hill Community Church, Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Fairview United Methodist Church, First United Methodist Church, Grace United Methodist Church, the Harvard campus of Omega Baptist Church, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, and Zion Baptist Church. Dayton police Chief Richard Biehl will attend the picnic at Zion in memory of police officer Kevin Brame, whose family worships there. He was off-duty when he was shot to death, a crime that is still unsolved.

“We have to do something to reduce crime and violence,” said College Hill pastor Bob Jones. “This is one more effort. The power is in unity.”

Peace-centered activities will include presentations from the Dayton International Peace Museum, the Dayton Mediation Center and the Community Initiative to Reduce Gun Violence. At 1 p.m., church bells will ring and participants will pray for peace.

“We are anchors in our neighborhood,” Wiechel explained. “We are not going to go away.”

Church leaders want to curb violence; they also want to counteract distorted perceptions about their community. The Rev. Sherry Gale, pastor at Grace United Methodist Church, became alarmed after a series of articles about shootings in northwest Dayton. The headlines don’t reflect the whole truth about what’s going on in her church, with its full schedule of Scout meetings and Zumba classes. “There are more homicides than we could be happy about, but most of these are not random shootings,” she said. “I love this neighborhood. I live in this neighborhood. Many of us live here in great peace, and we want to pray for that peace to be part of everyone’s lives.”

Echoed Wiechel, “We want people to know that violence is the exception, that most of us live in peace and harmony with our neighbors. We have a parking lot guard on Sunday mornings and he’s our best greeter. We aren’t suggesting there isn’t violence, but there are also signs of hope.”

Her church, for instance, has been actively involved with the Phoenix Project, a partnership between Good Samaritan Hospital, the city of Dayton and Citywide Development to revitalize the neighborhood, offering market rate homes with lease to own.

Fairview will unveil its new youth center during Sunday’s festivities. Observed Wiechel, “We want young people and all people to know that you can come here and we will share what we have to offer — even if it’s just a glass of water on a hot day.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2209 or mmcarty@Dayton DailyNews.com.

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