wfn.org | Fitness center, clinic open in Baltimore church

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

Jan. 11, 1999  Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-31-71B{015}

By Dean Snyder*

BALTIMORE (UMNS) - A Baltimore church at one of the city's most notorious
drug corners has opened a clinic and fitness center with treadmills, weights
and other exercise equipment.

"If the community is sick, then we're sick," said Bishop Felton E. May at
the Jan. 3 dedication of the clinic and fitness center at St. Mark's United
Methodist Church, at Liberty Heights Road and Garrison Boulevard in
Baltimore.

"This church is here, at this corner, for a reason - so that Jesus the
Christ will bring wholeness, well-being and deliverance to this community,"
he said.

The health center includes examination and consulting rooms as well as a
large room filled with exercise equipment. The fitness center will be
available for use by community adults and youth, including students at
nearby schools.

The opportunity for physical exercise and body building will result in young
people being less susceptible to drug use and violence, according to the
Rev. Bernard Keels, who moved from his position as district superintendent
last July to become pastor at St. Mark's.  The nearest gym is miles away and
is not financially accessible to some community residents, he said.

Traditional health services have not reached out adequately in urban areas,
according to Keel.  "Hospital emergency room visits do not provide the care
and attention you can get in a clinic. We need to reach out to address basic
and fundamental issues of well-being and help the people of our community
care for themselves physically and emotionally."

The project was initiated by Ernest O. Brown, a retired physician and member
of St. Mark's.  "People have been congratulating me on the opening of my
center," Brown said at the dedication ceremonies. "This is not my center.
It doesn't even belong to St. Mark's; it belongs to the community.

"My hope is that it draws the community nearer to St. Mark's and nearer to
Christ," he added.

"We have enough doctors and retired health personnel in our churches to
staff this clinic 24 hours a day, seven days a week," May said.,  He also
suggested that the church invite United Methodist physicians and health care
providers from around the country to serve residencies in the Baltimore
community.  He pointed to the example of a United Methodist eye clinic
staffed by health professions from around the world as a model of physicians
serving in distressed communities.

"We are very excited about having health professionals coming to share their
specialties and educating about specific illnesses over-represented in the
African-American community," Keels said. "We are also interested in health
care organizations coming to do conferences and symposiums."

In 1997, May who called on members of other congregations to become
affiliate members of St. Mark's for up to two years to help strengthen the
church's community ministries. Last July, Keels was named the church's
pastor.

"My appointment to St. Mark's is a prophetic statement," Keels said at the
time of his assignment. "I will be expected to provide leadership in a place
where it is really needed instead of leaving my current position to take a
cushy assignment. If we have skills, let's take them to where people are
hurting."

Dedication ceremonies concluded with Keels bench-pressing a 100-pound
barbell. "The first person who will use this new equipment is your pastor,"
he said. "I'm going to get in shape."

Funding to open the center was provided by the Patterson Fund of Baltimore
and the Baltimore Holy Boldness Regional Center.

Other community ministries initiated by the church include an HIV/AIDS
ministry and an arts program.

#  #  # 

*Snyder is a staff member of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of
the United Methodist Church.    

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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