The Warren Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church has services every Sunday, but the Rev. Adam Stevenson intends to have the church help people all week long. Stevenson calls his idea “life stations.”
“If you find yourself in a place, in a station in life where you are dealing with a particular issue in life, well then we will have someone there prepared to meet your needs,” Stevenson said.
For example, Rainbow Resources, a nonprofit based in San Pedro, will be training church members on how to assist victims of domestic violence. Stevenson also intends to help people who are struggling with their mental health, or who need housing.
“All these different things, we will have trained individuals within the church,” Stevenson said. “Not only can we send you to the resources, but we will have individuals who will walk alongside you. If you look at the word ‘encourage’ in its original language, it means to walk alongside. And that’s what we intend to do.”
Warren Chapel CME Church sits across Bandini Canyon which connects to Peck Park. Stevenson noted that if people are having problems, they will often hang out there. Stevenson said he often speaks with them and asks if they need food or other help.
“But if the church is closed until Sunday, we’re not really helping,” Stevenson said. “So that is the goal, to have it set up in a way that we can be in constant contact, and where we have individuals that are able to walk alongside and where they can reach out to them, and help them all the way through the process.”
Stevenson said he got the idea for the life stations from his experience as a pastor of Warren Chapel, where he has been since 2014.
“What I’ve found is that when people have traumas, or find themselves in certain places in life, one of the first places that they come is the church,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson said it is normal to see new people sitting in the back of the church.
“What I’ve started to notice over time is that while we were maybe spiritually feeding them, we weren’t coming alongside them to help them get the resources and the things that we needed,” Stevenson said.
He saw it as a mismanagement of people. If his church was going to be the first stop for people in crisis, then Stevenson decided it was necessary to have the right resources for whatever they need.
Stevenson said that clergy sometimes bite off more than they can chew. He said that pastors have had to operate as if they were psychiatrists, psychologists, or marriage and family therapists.
“We’re stepping in territory where we don’t have the knowledge or the skill set, so we may have been not assisting,” Stevenson said. “I won’t say that we’re doing harm, but I think for people to grow spiritually healthy, they have to be emotionally healthy as well.”
Stevenson said the project is in its beginning stages, but the church has started growing its network. Rainbow Services gave a presentation of its services to the church near the end of January. Stevenson also has a relationship with the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health. He used to be part of the department’s clergy roundtable, and would sit in on their meetings.
“They have people who come and speak on these mental health issues,” Stevenson said. “There’s just little nuances and things that you need to be aware of as it relates to the mental health community, and to know how to help them, and how to communicate with them.”
Stevenson said that in the African-American community, it can be taboo to seek mental health services.
“I wear a sweatshirt that says ‘Jesus and therapy,’” Stevenson said. “Making sure that we understand in the Black and brown community that it is okay to go and receive therapy.”
Stevenson said he wants to teach parents to see the signs of suicidal ideations in teenagers, as well as the signs of domestic violence among youth.
Stevenson also wants to teach financial literacy.
“In impoverished communities, we have not been trained to understand budgeting and financial literacy and watching our money grow, and how to manage our money,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson said that it is common for a Black person to die without having life insurance.
“That’s why you will drive down in San Pedro and you will see Black and brown communities having car washes, or selling food,” Stevenson said. “Because they are trying to raise money for these things, that comes back to financial literacy.”
Stevenson said that information for these financial services has not always been there in Black and brown communities, but he hopes to change that with his church.
Three members of the church have been diagnosed with cancer. Stevenson said it’s one thing to pray for them, but having members that can go with them to appointments, and talk to them while understanding what they are going through makes a difference. He also has been working to help incarcerated people. He’s been working to help them get their IDs, and other documentation to help them and reduce recidivism.
Stevenson said that to pay for the program, the church will fundraise, but will also have partnerships with other organizations. He said his church is very supportive of the program.
“We’re assessing members to find their gifts and their strengths,” Stevenson said.
Once the church figures out what areas members should work in, it will give them the proper training.
“I don’t just want bodies,” Stevenson said. “I want people who are passionate about the work.”