The First Mental Health Mission Group came into existence at North Church in 1977. The efforts and
prayers of this mission group eventually led to the formation of Ministry With Community as a mission
of North Church. Ministry With Community was the first soup kitchen in Kalamazoo and also served
as a drop-in and referral center. It served a hot meal to 100 people a day at North Church until it
outgrew us and had to move out on its own.
The first Mental Health Consumers to become members of North were Edith Smith and Daisy Layton
in 1970. Because of what North Church came to mean to them Edith and Daisy invited their friends
who then invited their friends to come to worship and join in the programs and activities and be elected
to church boards. A number of mental health consumers also became members of North Church in
the 1970's through their involvement with Ministry with Community and through the Bible Study that
The Rev. Robert Rasmussen led at Rickman House.
The Rev. Fred Cunningham became pastor of North Church in 1988. In 1989 when she was no
longer able to afford to go to the Delano Clinic support group Bettye Snelson asked if it would be
possible for North Church to sponsor a support group for mental health consumers. She was
encouraged to invite some of the other members of the church who were involved with the mental
health system to see if they would be interested. They decided that they would be interested in a
weekly activity. Their desire was presented to the session. The session discussed the advisability
of having a separate group for people with a mental illness. Questions were raised about the wisdom
of singling out people in this way. Approval was given to give it a try with the expenses to be covered
by fees which the pastor received for leading workshops and retreats. Four to eight people began to
meet weekly. Bettye made the calls each week to see who wanted to attend that week's activity. For
a year or so the size of the group did not go over eight to ten people. Various members of the
congregation and the pastor provided transportation by car.
Eventually word about the Togetherness Group began to get around. Participants began to invite their
friends. Case Managers and other professionals in the county mental health system began to hear
from their clients what the group meant to them and they began to refer other clients to the group.
To help with the increased expenses the Self-Development of People Committee of the Presbytery
of Lake Michigan provided funds for the Togetherness Group for three years. The Health Ministries
of the Presbyterian Church (USA) provided $1,000 for the group. The First Presbyterian Church of
Kalamazoo contributed $1,000. Other near by Presbyterian Churches and friends of North Church
also contributed funds. Since 1994 the Togetherness Group received grants from the John E. Fetzer
Foundation. The Kalamazoo Deacons Conference, the First Presbyterian Church and Pathways, a
clubhouse for people with mental illness and developmental disabilities make their vans available for
the group's use. The Kalamazoo County Human Services Department makes two of their vans
available for Togetherness Group activities because they feel that it provides a valuable "psycho-social
rehab program" for clients.
The Togetherness Group has led to an increase in self-esteem in the participants. It provides
opportunities for socialization. And after seven years it led to a desire on the part of the members to
reach out in concern for others beyond the group. Funds have been sufficient that we have yet to
have to tell anyone that they cannot participate in the group. Members of other Kalamazoo churches
now take turns driving for the events along with the pastor and members of North Church. The annual
budget of the Togetherness Group is now about $6,000.
Almost from the beginning, people who attended the Togetherness Group activities who were not a
part of another church began to worship at North Church and become members. They came because
their friends were there and they were glad to have a church where they were welcome and accepted
as they were. The majority of our members the past few years have become members through the
Togetherness Group. People with mental illness are members of the choir, the Deacons and the
Session.
With the increasing percentage of people with mental illness in the congregation there began to be
some discomfort on the part of some of the other members. Worship, fellowship, and meetings were
different. While North Church has always been an inclusive church, the inclusiveness was being
tested. There began to be a decrease in the activity of some of the non-mentally ill members. For
two years we worked hard to come to terms with what was happening. The pastor invited small
groups of non-mentally ill members to his home for desert and conversation. Monthly Shepherd Group
dinners hosted by session members were held with a mixture of mentally ill and non-mentally ill
members present. At the end of those two years there came to be a new acceptance, appreciation
and a sense of humor about who God was calling us to be and what God was calling us to do.
Our ministry is no longer just to people in our community. The pastor along with members of the
church are now being invited to speak at workshops and seminars about how a church can reach out
to and welcome people who have a mental illness. At these workshops and seminars we talk not just
about what we have been able to do. We also talk about how this has not always been an easy
ministry for us, that the lack of understanding, fear and discomfort that is found in society as a whole
are also issues that we have to deal with in our own lives and the life of our church. The opportunities
that some of the people have had to share their experience has increased their sense of self worth
but has also increased the self worth of other members of the church and Togetherness Group who
know that their friends are being called upon offer leadership in this way.
North Church receives $19,000 from the Presbytery and that support is assured. In 1997 it received $13,000 from other churches and friends of North Church. The remainder of its $56,600 budget is contributed by its members. In 1999 we anticipate needing $12,000 from individual and church friends of North Church.