INVOLVE CLERGY

It is a wonderful thing for our communities to become involved in seeking
solutions to the drug problems which continue to invade our society. But
let's realize one thing up front.

Being on the Lee Coalition for Health for the past few months, I have seen
where there needs to be a coming together of all of the resources available
in order to do a more complete job. I noticed that the task force consists
of a who's who in law enforcement. Many of these people are no doubt
Christians and I recognize the need for Christians to be involved. Many of
our law enforcement personnel have associate degrees while many of our
pastors have doctorates in the very thing that we need most in this
situation. And that is not just to bring the guilty to accountability, but
to rescue the perishing. There was no involvement of the clergy whatsoever
as far as I could tell.

I will agree that we do not go out armed with subpoenas and guns. But the
Word of God is more powerful that a two-edged sword. Clergy must be
involved in the planning as well as the helping to rescue aspects of this
joint endeavor. It was a law enforcement person teamed with a clergy person
in Kentucky which gave much momentum to this great effort to rid ourselves
of the drug problem as it is today.

Rev. Clyde Hester
Pennington Gap