August 5, 2013
Pastorgraphs: “Gambling Recovery Ministries”
Last week,
I met the Rev. Janet Jacobs, Director of Gambling Recovery Ministries,
an ecumenical ministry begun by Indiana United Methodists. Janet is a recently
retired-from-the-pulpit Methodist pastor who continues serving by bringing
healing resources to the broken lives of addicted gamblers and their loved
ones. She and her husband, Ron, divide their time between their homes in
Southern Indiana and San Diego. Their daughter is an immigration attorney who
lives just a few blocks from Christ Ministry Center!
In another
one of those “It must be a God thing” event that doesn’t surprise me anymore,
Janet, Ron and I believe the Holy Spirit brought us together. I am thrilled to
let you know we are working out the details for Christ Ministry Center to
become the West Coast headquarters for GRM. We will set up a resource center
for addicted gamblers, their loved ones, and professional counselors. This
ministry aligns perfectly with our mission to minister (among others) to those
in prison, (the captivity of compulsive gambling). Visit www.grmumc.org for more details about GRM.
My Story
about Gambling: Way
back in 1987, as a pastor in Biloxi, Mississippi, I managed to get embroiled in
a year-long battle with the gambling industry. I lost. Mississippi, perennially
the poorest state, began warming up to the idea that legalizing gambling might
be the way out of poverty. But with solid opposition from upstate Baptists,
Gulf Coast officials came up with a clever plan that is a perfect illustration
of how habits morph into parasites, and eventually, but inevitably, take over
completely.
The
original justification in 1987 was that if the Europa Star, a Panamanian registered
casino boat, was allowed to dock in Biloxi, it would pick up tourists but not
open up the casino until it was three miles offshore. After a few hours of
off-shore gambling, they would close up the casino before returning to the
shoreline. So, technically, there was no gambling on Mississippi soil.
After
preaching a sermon against legalizing gambling, the local TV station and
newspaper contacted me for comments from the anti-gambling position. Before
long, I was the “anti-gambling spokesman”. I appeared on WLOX’s “In Depth”
public affairs program (a local version of “Meet the Press”), and in the
aftermath was called some colorful names, most of which I cannot print here.
But you can probably guess; most along the line of being another narrow-minded preacher
who didn’t want sweet little old grandmothers to play bingo.
Don’t get
me wrong. I do not think playing bingo, dropping a few quarters in a slot
machine or buying lottery tickets makes a person a sinner. I’ve done it, but
with the will to stop when my very limited recreation budget for this form of
entertainment is expended. I told a local casino when I get the next urge to
gamble, I’ll just drive up to their front door and throw my $20 out the window,
saving both the casino and me the time – because I know they will get it all
anyway! That’s been several years ago, and I haven’t had “the urge”. I still
have my $20.
What I do
believe is gambling has a history of attracting criminals and people with
addictive personalities, preying upon the poor, ruining marriages and families,
and destroying careers, not to mention driving local mom-and-pop enterprises
out of business.
Of course
you could predict the progression. After allowing off-shore gambling trips, the
ships were permitted to dock and conduct gambling along the beach, still
technically “off shore”. Next, because hurricanes presented a problem for the
moored casinos, they were allowed to be land based. Then, heck, Mississippi has
a bunch more water along the Mississippi River, so they placed casinos all the
way from Tunica (just south of Memphis) to Natchez. And don’t forget the
Native-American opportunities.
Bottom
line: Mississippi is now the third most popular gambling destination in America
(behind Las Vegas and New Jersey). But the state government is now totally
dependent on tax revenues from the gaming industry. Most of the public schools,
promised to benefit greatly from the gaming taxes, are among the poorest
performers in the nation.
AND
MISSISSIPPI IS STILL THE POOREST STATE IN THE NATION!
What
happened in Mississippi is not unusual. It has been repeated in almost every
other state. They bought into the idea that gambling was good for tourism and
the economy, and now find themselves with poorer citizens, schools, and unable to
operate without the revenues the casinos bring in. Sure, the local hotels and
tourism industry love it. But there is a darker side that gets swept under the
rug.
I had a
friend who operated a restaurant in Waveland, MS. I ate there at least once a
week. When gambling spread from Biloxi to Hancock County, he was so excited.
“Just think, Bill,” he said, “all those folks coming over from New Orleans to
gamble in Bay St. Louis will have to drive right by my restaurant.” And they
did. They ate at the buffets at the casinos. He even lost his local regular
customers. Six months after the first casino opened in Hancock County, my
friend closed the doors to his restaurant.
GRM helps
pick up the pieces of broken lives by extending “life-saving outreach, in
Christ’s love, to persons directly and indirectly impacted by the devastation
of disordered gambling, and to spread the good news of hope, help, recovery and
renewal”.
Bless you,
all, Bill Jenkins
From the
Quote Garden:
“…if the Mississippi coast shows the
economic potential of gambling to produce jobs and tax revenue, it also shows
the risks, both in businesses displaced and lives ruined. Already, social
service agencies and courts are seeing marriages destroyed or residents sinking
into debt because of problem gambling.”
~ Peter Applebome, The New
York Times, (January 10, 1994)
Christ United Methodist Ministry
Center
“Christ
in the Heart of San Diego”
3295
Meade Avenue - San Diego, CA 92116 - (619) 284-9205
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