If you happened to be in downtown Mt Airy on the night of February 11th, you probably would have been surprised at the large number of people there and the lack of parking spaces. Main Street in Mayberry on a Tuesday night in the middle of winter is usually a fairly quiet place. But on this night, crowds of people were all headed to one place…The Historic Earle Theater. They were not gathering there to be entertained by a blockbuster movie or a big music event. In fact they were not there to be entertained at all.
This gathering was for a far more serious reason and the people came with a mission. The event was spearheaded by the Greater Mount Airy Missional Network of United Methodist Churches headed by Rev. Danny Miller, pastor of Central United Methodist Church and was titled The Greater Mount Airy Community Opioid Forum. “Our goal was to have an open discussion about the opioid crisis in Surry County and to overcome the silence and stigma surrounding opioids and find new ideas, new approaches and a community effort that will lead people to healing, holiness and recovery,” Miller stated.
The Earle was filled with over 300 concerned citizens, many representing local churches, and a highly qualified panel that was there to answer questions from the audience. Maddie Gardner of WFMY News was the Master of Ceremonies and Moderator. Mark Willis, Surry Co. Opioid Response Effort Director gave a brief presentation and then the Forum panelists answered questions. The Forum panelists included representatives from emergency medical services, law enforcement, a treatment facility, the faith community, the court system, a healthcare, harm reduction advocate and members of the Board of Commissioners.
When asked for a show of hands from those in attendance who had been personally affected by the opioid problem or had family members or friends who had been affected, almost all in attendance raised their hands.
EMS Director John Shelton, reported that Surry County EMS responded to 347 overdose incidents in 2019, resulting in 26 deaths. They responded to 372 the year before. And as recently as 2017, Surry County experienced 55 overdose deaths. Despite it’s small population, Surry County has the second highest rate of emergency department reported opioid overdoses in the entire state of North Carolina. The estimated total lifetime medical and work loss costs in Surry County due to overdoses in 2018 was a staggering $37,145,426.
There is a real crisis in our area!
The problem is so great that the Surry County Commissioners hired Willis, a former Marine and federal agent to attack this issue over a year ago. He concluded that our area is experiencing a crisis of hopelessness and despair that has resulted in bringing death, crime, heartbreak, and domestic disruption to our community. He attacked this crisis from a number of different angels and sought advice and cooperation from all of the entities represented at the forum. His plan for the faith community was to educate them about opioid abuse and all the problems that resulted from that and then lead them towards some sort of action.
In a meeting he called in May of 2019, Willis asked those in the faith community who were in attendance, “Who can lend compassion to people who are lost? Who can provide hope for people who are abandoned? Who else can bring people together?” Then he stated, “I am looking at them!”
Panelists at the Earle echoed that call to the faith community.
Commissioner Eddie Harris stated, “There is a lack in young people today for a purpose driven life. Our religious community can play a big role in solving this problem.”
Rev. Evelyn Lemons said, “This problem has a spiritual root and the church has a huge role to play. We have to work harder to get out the Good News of Jesus Christ. We have to step up and be more eager to take people in. No other organization pushes hope like the church. This is an issue for all denominations of the faith community to take up. We need to build bridges with our communities. The solution is the church!”
Commissioner Jon Cawley offered, “Our only hope is to be agents of God’s grace.”
Pastor Miller stated in an interview with the Good News Journal that he has had a lot of positive response to the Fmnorum. He explained, “People want solutions now and we can’t arrest our way out of this problem. We are three -person -beings so we need to treat the mind, the body and the spirit. The church community should be the ones to deal with the spiritual aspect, but we also feel we can help facilitate the conversation in the community. We really want to help community leaders and citizens begin an open conversation. We hope it not only happens around the table at the Forums, but that it also happens at committee tables and around kitchen tables.”
Addiction needs to be understood as a treatable, chronic, medical condition — and not a personal or moral failing — prejudice and shame needs to be replaced by a spirit of compassion and hope that opens doors, hearts, and resources to those suffering with a substance-use disorder.
Pastor Miller went on to say that there will be follow-ups to the Forum. There are plans for a Bible study built around coping with opioid and drug addiction. His group is also planning to sponsor a community book study around the book “Dopesick,” by Beth Macy and then hopefully have Macy come to Mt. Airy to speak. They also are working on ‘care bags” for survivors and families of drug overdose victims.
And although he and his group of Methodist churches have thankfully taken this on as their mission for 2020, much more could be accomplished if churches of other denominations would step up and join the fight. Regretfully, not many have at this point. I was greatly saddened when I read a headline in the January 20, Winston-Salem Journal that stated, “A Call to Surry County’s Faith Community to Help With Opioid Issue Results in Talk But Not Much Action.” The article went on to explain how Willis had tried to get area churches involved and had devised a plan for them to help but the plan failed for lack of participation from our faith community.
Hopefully the forum at the Earle will open some minds and hearts in our local churches. The problem cannot be solved without them. I recently talked to Willis and he has not given up on the area’s faith community. He remains convinced that it will play a big role in helping heal a county that has averaged roughly an overdose a day for the past two years. Let’s hope his faith in our faith community is rewarded.
Here are some things that individual churches can do right now..
(1) Educate yourselves on the issues and start conversations with others in your church. There is a lot of good information on the Surry Opioid Website (www.surrycountycares.com) or on their Facebook at www.facebook.com/surrycountycares.
(2) Hold a Bible study at your church about HOPE and invite people in your community.
(3) Invite people from the law enforcement community, the health community or from the Surry County Opioid Response Team to speak at your church to help educate your congregation. They will be more than welcome to come.
As terrible as this crisis is, it has created an amazing opportunity for followers of Jesus to be a light in the dark in our community. Now is the time to act! Standing by and hoping someone else will help is no longer an option!