wfn.org | Career ministry 'worth its weight in gold,' says jobless man

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Jan. 8, 2004  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 7
E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org 7 ALL{004}

NOTE: A UMTV report is available with this story.

A UMNS Report
By Nancye Willis*

After Rick Kent of Atlanta lost his job as a well-paid sales director, he
went to church. At Sugar Hill United Methodist Church, he found what he
needed-not only emotional and spiritual support but also a free job search. 

Kent knew about Sugar Hill's Crossroads Career Ministry for the unemployed
firsthand. He had spoken to members of the support group a year and half
earlier. 

"I gave a testimonial, when I was still employed, about making a career
change in a positive way and how God has worked in our lives," he says.  

"Obviously, when I had the need for a search, I knew this is one of the best
venues and paths to look for help," he says. "It's worth its weight in gold
because it gives you some optimism."

Sugar Hill Crossroads director Sherrie Nacke agrees. "In addition to contacts
and names of people, it also offers friendships and spiritual support. This
Crossroads has helped numerous people find numerous opportunities," she says.

"Sometimes it's not necessarily through the job leads that get communicated
via e-mail," she says. "Sometimes they discover they have a unique talent or
a unique skill or maybe some education that they realized they could apply to
certification and go in a different area."

Nacke describes Crossroads as "a church-based, formalized way of searching in
a church environment-a Christian environment-during a crossroads in career." 

The U.S. Bureau of Statistics estimates that about 8.7 million U.S. citizens
are at such a crossroads, starting the new year looking for work. Fear can be
their worst enemy, Nacke says. 

"They have fears of not even finding leads enough to follow up on; fear of
uncertainty of their skills. Maybe they're uncertain as to where they fit in
the marketplace. Maybe they don't want to uproot their family." 

At the Crossroads group meetings, Nacke says, she sees those fears dissipate.
"This is a tremendous outlet for them. It's safe. It's secure. They know
familiar faces. They can ask questions of professionals or volunteers: 'Hey,
what would you do in this instance?'"

The dedication of the volunteers impresses her. "You have to have a lot of
passion to want to help somebody and help them through those feelings. We
want to instill in these people the love that Christ has for us through us to
these individuals," she says.

"Some people come severely beaten down in their ego because maybe they were
making that executive pay and maybe now they're not. It's up to us to show
them the love that Christ has for us," she adds. 

Unfortunately, Nacke says, with unemployment in the United States hovering
around 6 percent, "many churches miss this element of helping their
congregations in perhaps what is one of the biggest problems right now in
American homes."

Founded by two executives in the search and recruiting field, Crossroads
Career Ministries first involved a group of Atlanta volunteer business people
who wanted to help others in career transition. The early marketplace
ministry grew to the point that it began meeting in a local church, and is
now an ecumenical, volunteer-led network with chapters in nearly 30 states.

Information on the Sugar Hill Crossroads Career Ministry is available at
www.sugarhillumc.org/career.htm, and at the site of its parent organization,
the national Crossroads Career Network, www.crossroads-career.net/index.htm.

# # #

*Willis is editor for the Public Information Team at United Methodist
Communications in Nashville, Tenn. This story is based on material gathered
for a UMTV report produced by Lyle Jackson.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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