Tampabay: Ministries' auxiliary pulls back on suppor

On Wednesday, the women's auxiliary that sponsors the annual fashion show to benefit Metropolitan Ministries sent the charity a blistering letter criticizing its restrictive policies.

The group is angry about the Ministries' recent decision to limit the number of non-Christians who can serve on its governing board.

The LAMPLighters, founded in 1986 to raise money for the charity, told its parent organization it won't participate in the Ministries' annual breakfast in April, a major fundraiser.

It didn't cancel today's fashion show, which raises about $50,000, because the event had been planned long before the group learned about the Ministries' restrictive policies, members said.

But the LAMPLighters warned that financial support for the Ministries could fall in the future because the group's "intolerance" was "embarrassing and insulting."

It also instructed the Ministries to spend any money raised from the fashion show on children and families, not for general purposes.

The blunt letter from the group of women, normally known for their volunteer work and civic fundraising, shows how the recently discovered restrictive policies have divided one of Tampa's best-known charities.

Ministries president Morris Hintzman said the letter's harsh tone caught him by surprise.

He said he wanted to meet with the women, who represent the Ministries' largest group of contributors, "to clear up their concerns and reach some understanding."

LAMPLighters president Carolyn Black, who sits on the Ministries' board, said she was "not optimistic" that the problem could be solved.

Like many donors, Black said the LAMPLighters did not know that the Ministries' bylaws said only "professed Christians" could serve on the board.

Most people learned about the policy months after a Jewish woman found out she couldn't serve on the board because of her religion. Executives at TECO Energy, which had given $1-million to the charity, had suggested the woman as a potential board member.

When TECO learned about the policy, the company said it couldn't contribute any longer to a charity that discriminates.

The Ministries then formed a committee that, after months of debate, recommended dropping the exclusionary bylaw.

But the Ministries board wouldn't go that far. They voted in January to let non-Christians on the board, but limited the number to one-third of the total board. The same day, the board named eight new board members, none of whom were non-Christians.

The board also made sure future boards can't change the group's mission statement without a unanimous vote. The mission statement calls for serving the poor as "an expression of . . . Jesus Christ."

"I think there are people on the board that felt strongly it should be Christian," Black said.

Unlike others on the board, she said she wasn't worried that another religious group would try to take over the organization. "I think it is something they should not fear," she said.

The LAMPLighters' letter called the Ministries' handling of the controversy "incredibly inept."

"By substituting one quota for another, the concept of discrimination is still evident," the letter said.

The board's action "further eroded confidence in the direction of the organization," the letter said.

Betty Wood, who has worked on the fashion show for years, said many of her friends have told her they won't attend today's show, which is sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue.

"I am tired of having to defend their actions," said Wood, who thinks the board should be open. "This is where we are. We are having to defend their decision. And I didn't make it. I am not a part of it."

Among the people missing from today's show will be TECO Energy, which usually buys a table, but decided not to this year.

-- Times staff writer Amy Scherzer contributed to this report. David Karp is at 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com.

A letter from the LAMPLighters

The following are excerpts from the letter sent Feb. 20 by the LAMPLighters board of directors to the Metropolitan Ministries board:

At the February 7 meeting, the board felt strongly that LAMPLighters, as a very diversified group of many religious faiths, should express our disappointment at the continuing exclusiveness of the Metropolitan Ministries board ... Metropolitan Ministries serves all of those in need, whether they are professed Christians or not, and the board should be just as inclusive.

This is to inform you that in a unanimous vote the LAMPLighter board decided that we would not participate in this year's Bridge Builder's Breakfast, either by purchasing a table or by serving as hostesses. Our funds, including those which will be generated by our forthcoming fashion show, should still be given directly to benefit the Metropolitan Ministries children's activities and families and should not be used for any general or administrative purposes.

As acknowledged in a letter from Morris Hintzman dated Sept. 6, 2001, LAMPLighters' financial contribution to the Ministries over the years is the largest of any group ... However, we cannot assure that level of support in the future, either as an organization or on an individual basis, due to the recent actions of the Metropolitan Ministries board in retaining the same sense of intolerance, which is embarrassing and insulting to our members who are not Christians ...

(Signed) Carolyn Black, Susanne Cleckler, Sally Ordway, Renee Furlong, Joan Schabacker, Cynthia Conaty, Evelyn Bowles, Bernadette Schurr, Lila Mulholland

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