
DATE: Monday, October 6, 1997               TAG: 9710060070

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   82 lines

JEREMIAH SUMMIT DRAWS 700 USING RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES AS FOUNDATION, THE DIVERSE GROUP AIMS TO ADDRESS PORTSMOUTH'S SOCIAL NEEDS.

About 700 citizens showed up for the Jeremiah Project's first citywide summit Sunday, ready to work in a mission field they call home.

This summit was called by the growing coalition of clergy and lay people who plan to join forces to meet the social needs of the city.

With welfare reform here, the interdenominational organization hopes to bolster social agencies and ministries and help struggling welfare recipients as they make their way into the work force.

The coalition started in February with six clergy brought together by Sister Anna Mae Crane, a Catholic nun affiliated with the Sisters of Bon Secours.

As of Sunday, their number had grown from the 32 who planned the summit to 53 clergy and members of various churches.

While babies cried and older members of the audience punctuated the air with ``Amens,'' the Rev. N. LaMonte Newsome of Mount Hermon Baptist delivered a thunderous sermon based on the Scripture that serves as the coalition's guiding principle:

It is the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah's message from God to his people living captive in Babylon:

``Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your own.''

More than 2,500 years later, members of the Jeremiah Project think that message is just as relevant for Portsmouth.

``God never intended that the church would keep itself cloistered behind its stained-glass windows,'' Newsome said. ``The early church was the original social service agency.''

After the worship service, people filed out of the concert hall into the adjoining Hunt-Mapp Middle School for workshops ranging from the impact of welfare to the clergy's guide to existing resources.

Some made their way to exhibits of social agencies and ministries.

Three members of a missionary group at New Mount Vernon Baptist Church walked together, looking for a workshop that interested them. Their group already provides meals to residents of PARC Place, a shelter for homeless families.

Dorothy Davis, one of the three, said she enjoyed the summit worship service, but especially the togetherness of people of different colors and denominations.

``It's something that seems to be rare in Portsmouth,'' she said.

Davis hopes to see more of it.

Dave Moyers, an insurance agent who attends the Church of the Resurrection in Churchland, headed to a session on how to help struggling parents. He is interested in becoming involved in a mentoring program for young men, he said.

But the joint worship had gone longer than planned, cutting the workshop sessions short.

That was the only complaint that the Rev. Geoffrey Hahneman of Trinity Episcopal Church heard.

Hahneman liked the fact that people came ready to participate.

``That's really what we want - to move this out from just the clergy getting together to the churches' getting together.''

On Sunday, they did.

``It was what we hoped it might be - the numbers, the enthusiasm, the diversity,'' Hahneman said.

The real work, Jeremiah Project members emphasize, comes after Sunday's summit.

Clergy will meet this month to follow up on the event, and a larger meeting to bring hundreds of lay people into the work will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 1 at Brighton Rock AME Zion Church. MEMO: For more information, call Sister Crane at 398-4900. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

``SEEK THE WELFARE OF THE CITY . . .''

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

Vernessa Ruffin, left, and Barbara Ellis welcome participants to the

Jeremiah Project. The interdenominational group has several aims,

which include bolstering social agencies and helping welfare

recipients make the transition to the work force.

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

The Mount Hermon Baptist Temple Dance Team performs at the Jeremiah

Summit in Portsmouth. A coalition of people from all walks of life

is aiming to better meet the city's social needs.