They Came to Learn and to Help
By Roger Lovette, Board Member
MTM held a Banquet in the Birmingham area on September 30 at the Vestavia Hills Baptist Church. Birmingham was a likely place for such a banquet. Through the generosity of Samford University three retreats and two reunion weekends have been held in Birmingham. Close to a hundred people from twenty-one different churches representing four denominations came together to listen to the MTM story.
The evening began when Gene North, a musician from Morristown, Tennessee, sang and played several musical instruments. He told those gathered how MTM had helped him in a hard time. "Without Ministering to Ministers," he said, "I doubt I would still be in the ministry today. MTM helped save my life and my ministry."
Charles Chandler, Founder and Director of MTM sketched the history of this organization. He told how this work had come into being to be an advocate for clergy and staff persons. He told that over a thousand persons have been touched and helped since the beginning in 1994.
Dr. Ross Campbell, a psychiatrist from Chattanooga, told how he had seen lives changed in the retreats he has participated in. Ross has worked primarily with families during this time of stress and confusion. "I think this is one of the finest organizations I know for helping people. I know of no other organization that brings together ministers and staff people for healing and help who have experienced trouble. I am a believer in and I'm sold on the work of MTM."
Dr. Michael Brooks of Judson College told his own story. In a troubled time, three men in his church met with him weekly for several months. That night those three men had driven a long way to stand, once again, by their pastor-friend. Mike told how he had discovered MTM through an article in the Alabama Baptist. He reported that he and his wife had found their way through some of their difficulties because of the help they had received in the MTM retreats. He went to the retreat in Birmingham. He found it so helpful that he encouraged his wife to attend the next retreat which was held in Tennessee. She did.
As a Board Member I had the privilege of challenging those gathered to give prayer and financial support to this important effort. Pastors, attorneys, businessmen, counselors, staff members, college administrators and retired pastors filed out after the meeting. as they left, person after person said they had no idea this organization was even in existence. The MTM story was told once more and those gathered came to know there is a place where troubled ministers can go in time of need.