What does it do? How does it go about it?
Bryan Crousore, Editor
Rev. Bryan Crousore is the new Chair of the Mental Illness Network. www.min-ucc.org.
The Mental Illness Network (MIN) is all in the UCC who care about persons with the serious brain illness (SBI) (commonly called mental illnesses) of:
- Anxiety disorders
- Bipolar disorder (Manic-Depression disorder)
- Depression
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Schizophrenia.
A network of Key Persons in the various conferences, associations, and churches who have, on their own or in covenant with others in the MIN, educated themselves and others about the serious brain illnesses, advocated for the inclusion of persons with SBI in all aspects of church life, and challenged our denomination and society to change every word and action that stigmatizes and dehumanizes persons with SBI.
A Board of Directors who support, guide, and direct those in the UCC who care about
persons with SBI and Key Persons and who act with DM and the Parish Life and Leadership Ministry to accomplish the tasks laid before the UCC in the resolution passed at the General Synod in 1999 and other actions to guide the UCC in being more accessible and open to persons with SBI. As you can see by the above description, the MIN encompasses many people — most of whom the Board might not know about. Although you can be an effective Key Person without connecting with the rest of the Network, the Officers and Board want to know who you are. If you care about someone with a SBI, we encourage you to:
- Watch for and read the insert “That All May Worship and Serve” which is included in UCNews twice a year.
- Log onto the MIN website at www.min-ucc.org
- Write to the chairperson at peaceucchartsburg@hotmail.com and tell him that you are a Key Person and what you are doing to educate, advocate, and de-stigmatize.
- Communicate with others on the Board and secure additional resources from MIN or Pathways to Promise www.pathways2promise.org to use in being a more effective Key Person.
While individuals acting as Key People conduct most MIN activities, the Board of Directors seeks to coordinate and communicate across the denomination and to take certain actions on behalf of the Network for the benefit of the whole UCC. In that aspect of MIN, the second annual meeting of the board met at St. John’s UCC in Newport, KY, in July of 2002.
Most important among actions taken:
1. Established Bob and Joyce Dell Award to be given at each general synod to a person in the UCC who has done much to educate the UCC about serious brain illness. Award is named for Bob and Joyce who have done so much to bring MIN into being and to see it through the first decade of faithful and effective witness.
2. Elected the following slate of officers and board members at large for the coming year:
a. Bryan Crousore, Chair
b. Joan Jones, Secretary
c. Norma Mengel, Treasurer
d. Bob Dell, Past-President
e. Peg Slater, Ex-Officio, representing Local Church Ministries
f. Sharon Crousore
g. Ellen Hiatt
h. Jim Mengel
i. Robin Keating
3. Requested a portion of David Denham’s time as consultant be devoted to securing Key People for MIN while recruiting Key People for DM.
4. Asked Bryan Crousore to converse with Mike Downs of the Pension Boards. It is our
desire that PB build parity into the plan by defining the five serious brain illnesses as physical illnesses to be approved and paid on the same basis as illnesses of other organs.
5. Decided to suggest to DM and MIN to form a corporation, “That All May Worship and Serve, Inc.” as the legal framework by which they might receive tax-deductible contributions, interface with the secular world, establish our legal status, 501(c)(3) determination, etc.
6. Suggested that all in the UCC concerned for rights of and services to persons with
mental retardation and other developmental disabilities consider forming a third network to join DM and MIN in advocating for a church open and accessible to all.
7. Set next MIN board meeting: July 8-10, 2002 in Minneapolis, MN, before next General Synod.
8. Changed MIN bylaws to include ex-officio members appointed from Parish Life andLeadership, Parish Nurses, and DM.
At General Synod 24 and all Year, 2003, UCC DISABILITIES MINISTRIES and MENTAL ILLNESS NETWORK, will celebrate our twenty-five and ten years of ministry.
From UCC DC Newsletter Archive
