The echoes of this psalm draw us forward through the Lenten season toward Jesus' cry of God forsakenness on Good Friday's cross and the glorious "Alleluias" of Easter Sunday. It is in the midst of the cries of anguish and alleluias of hope that we live.

Cries of anguish surround us in the Good Friday world. In this world, six or sixteen year old children shoot their classmates, two thirds of this world starves and one third is on a perpetual diet, and in this world bored millionaires become depressed when the stock market is off a few points while others watch their children slaughtered for the sake of oil. Our own throats are raw from "words of groaning." Crises of trauma and of life cause us to shout out to God - "Why have you forsaken me?"

I do not know what cries of anguish are filling your ears or heart, but I do know that we need to be able to express our pain and suffering to live. Dorothee Soelle, in her book entitled Suffering, asserts that it is necessary for those who suffer to speak on their own behalf:
If people cannot speak about their affliction they will be destroyed by it, or swallowed up by apathy. It is not important where they find the language or what form it takes. But people's lives actually depend on being able to put their situation into words, or rather, learning to express themselves, which includes the nonverbal possibilities of expression. (p. 76)

Those who are suffering the upheaval of the death of a child, chronic illness, incest, rape, domestic violence, joblessness, retirement, or the loss of a partner, find it difficult to put into words the depth and breath of their agony. It is our privilege at the Pastoral Counseling Centers of Tennessee, Inc. to be present to those who struggle to express their pain and are searching for hope. Without the opportunity to express that which is causing suffering, there is little possibility of change. Soelle continues, "Without the capacity to communicate with others there can be no change. To become speechless, to be totally without any relationship, that is death." We are here to listen and to help you, or those you know who are suffering, express that which grips you deep within.

Dr. James Hofrening observed that "We are an Easter people in a Good Friday world." Easter people know the comfort of having one's suffering borne and the promise of life with hope.

Recommended Reading:
Out of the Depths: The Psalms Speak for Us Today by Bernhard W. Anderson
Meditations of the Cross by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Suffering by Dorothee Soelle

The Power to Bless
by James R. Coffman

The congregation's power to bless is a source of great hope to people. So many people need to be blessed.

The greatest power in primitive religion is the power of "curse." This power remains with us . . . . [People] seem to look for some high place of office, influence, or notoriety from which they can hurl the destructive word upon their enemies.The new thing in religion came with Abraham - the "blessing" and the intent of God to bring blessing upon all the families of the earth.
Myron Madden. (The Power to Bless, p. 7)

The isolation, hostility, rejection, and fear we see is often present because some curse is having its way on a soul. Curses are difficult burdens. A seventy-year-old man speaks of his father's death when he was eleven years old. It is an intense story-even today-as he recounts standing in the fog with his mother and siblings as the house and all their possessions were auctioned for necessary funds. He makes a promise: "This will never happen to me again." He launches a journey filled with a thousand successes, but his need to create security through acquisition and over-functioning simultaneously opens a large hole in his soul. His choice of a defense against his loss blesses him with success, but curses him with isolation. He has never been poor, except in the accounting of love, where he suffers every day in his fear to place trust in another. Must he be cursed? Of course not!

Our benevolences are revealing. We will give food to this eleven year old and his family. We will contribute rental payments for housing. We will join neighbors to get the children in school. In doing so, we would rightfully bless this family.

In the shaping of a soul, however, the management of the whole of things too easily gets confused. This man "would pay" anything to experience an enduring love. Yet love is not a commodity that is bought and sold. It is a relationship to be experienced. We pastoral counselors see this challenge as one of developmental fixation, but we also see this man's challenge as the journey of the soul to be free.

Yes, the religious community blesses by providing food. It supports better housing. It advocates for good healthcare. And it bears witness to every soul's yearning to fully live and love. And just because one is cursed by circumstance, decision, and environment, one has not heard the last word. The final word is one of blessing. "The Lord bless and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up us his countenance upon you and give you peace." (Num. 6:24-26)

National Mental Health Month
May is National Mental Health Month. Mental health is as central to well-being as good physical health. Building self-esteem, managing stress, and thinking positively are all ways of encouraging good mental health.

United Way Giving
The Pastoral Counseling Centers is proud to be a United Way designated agency. The ease of contributing through the United Way to PCCT makes it a very appealing option. If you live outside Davidson County you can make a contribution through the United Way to the Pastoral Counseling Center in your community by using our designated number (#8001) and then specifying the particular Center. The contribution will be routed into Davidson County for processing and then returned to the specified community. However, you always have the option of sending a contribution for a particular Center directly to PCCT, and the full contribution goes directly to the needs of the people we serve.

New Schedule for "Partners in Mission"
For the first time in fifteen years, the Pastoral Counseling Centers will adjust the schedule of requested congregation contributions to the Centers. The new schedule is available through the Development Office. The Pastoral Counseling Centers serves through the generous support of over ninety congregations in Middle Tennessee. There are three levels of support congregations offer PCCT including, Partner Congregations, Member Congregations and Supporting Congregations.

A Partner Congregation contributes to the open door policy of the center to serve all persons and provides care and counseling for their members and persons their staff members refer without charge. A Member Congregation contributes to a center's open door care by pledging regular contributions at or above a level set according to the congregational budget. A Supporting Congregation makes regular contributions to the mission of reaching all who come.

At the Member Congregation contribution level begins at $600 for a congregation whose budget is $100,000 or more and extends to $6,000 and up for a congregation whose budget is $900,000 or more. One third of the Centers budget comes from contributions. Please consider giving at the Partner or Member Congregation level in the coming year. Our congregations' support is the lifeblood for caring and these gifts empower us to bless all who come for counseling, psychotherapy, and support.

Through our congregations generosity we provided over 7,600 counseling sessions in 1999. Of this number, over forty percent (40%) paid fees in the $0 to $30 range. Over seventy-five percent (70%) were subsidized at some level. Thank you for your support of the Pastoral Counseling Centers of Tennessee, Inc. We appreciate the opportunity to serve our people and give thanks for our congregations' generous support. WE ARE PARTNERS IN CARING!

Pastoral Care Specialist Program Graduates
PCCT congratulates the first class of the Pastoral Care Specialist Program. The participants will graduate on April 28. This program has helped enhance clergy, laypersons and physicians ability to address spiritual and theological issues in their care giving of others. The next session of the Pastoral Care Specialist Program will begin in August and run through December. For more information about this training program, or the Clinical Pastoral Therapist Program set to begin in August, please call Dr. James Pruett, The Director of Training Programs, at 615/370-9547.

Memorial and Honor Roll
We gratefully acknowledge the following gifts:

Anonymous
The Martin Foundation
Cal Turner Family Foundation
Dr. David Black
Dr. Richard Bruehl
Mr. William J. Bryan, Jr.
Mr. Gary Carden
Dr. Sam Carney
Judge Carol Catalano
Dr. & Mrs. James Coffman
Mr. Robert Crichton
Dr. & Mrs. Robert Frist
Mrs. Bruce D. Henderson
Ms. Ann Houston
Mrs. Martha Ingram
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Jones
Mr. & Mrs. William King
Ms. Jane M. Longhurst
Dr. Joretta Marshall
Mr. & Mrs. Wirt McKnight
Mr. John R. Nanni
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Parker
Mr. & Mrs. William V. Parsons
Mr. Dan Prince
Mr. & Mrs. James Stansell, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Earl Swensson
Mr. David Thibodeau
Mr. William Tyne
Mr. Charles K. Wray

Thank you to Rich Maradik and the staff at DataMark for their continued support and in-kind contributions to our direct mail efforts.

Notes

Staff Notes
PCCT welcomes to the Vine Street office two new staff people. Dr. Doug Herr arrived at PCCT in early January. He is a graduate of Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University in La Mirada, California. Doug is a licensed Psychological Examiner in the State of Tennessee and has a pending membership in the American Psychological Association. Doug will be working at both the Pastoral Counseling Center of Clarksville and Vine Street Pastoral Counseling Center. Judy Rimer joined the staff in mid-January as our new Development and Bookkeeping Clerk. Judy is originally from Chattanooga. She moved to Nashville from Birmingham, Alabama ten months ago when her husband began a new pastorate at the First Nashville Seventh Day Adventist Church

New Board Members
PCCT extends a warm welcome to our four new Board members. Dr. Aleeta Christian who is on the faculty at Austin Peay University and a long time Advisory Council member in Clarksville. Susan Salley works for the Methodist Publishing House. Dr. Richard Stewart is a United Methodist clergy who currently serves as chaplain at Fisk University. Dr. John Tarpley is a surgeon and on the training faculty at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Marcia White is a successful and committed fundraiser. We are so thankful for their commitment to PCCT and the gifts they bring to our mission and ministry.

Founders' Banquet Scheduled
This years Founder's Banquet will honor Bill and Evelyn Tallent from Vine Street Christian Church and Reverend George Gracey from the First Presbyterian Church in Clarksville. Bill and Evelyn Tallent were instrumental in starting the Vine Street Center. Bill served on the Board of Directors for many years. George Gracey spearheaded the start-up efforts in Clarksville and has served on the Advisory Committee in Clarksville since the Center opened in 1987. The Founder's Banquet celebration is scheduled for October 6th. Please contact us if you would like more information.

New Center To Open
The Pastoral Counseling Center of Columbia is scheduled to open the first of July. The Columbia Advisory Council has been formed and has begun planning for the new center. Renovation of the Center's site at Trinity Lutheran Church is in the works. Trinity Lutheran has been awarded a matching grant through Aid Association for Lutherans to be used for renovation of the counseling space. The church will be having a Yard Sale to raise money for needed materials on Saturday, April 29th, between 7am - 1pm.

National Volunteer Month
April is National Volunteer Month. Thank you to our volunteers for all their hard work. Volunteers provide hospitality to clients in our seven centers by answering the telephone after hours and being present when people come for an appointment. Our volunteers add an extra measure of safety to Centers, as well. It seems such a little thing but it makes a big difference! Thank you to, Martha Gaddis, Sarah Goder, Judy Grealis, Mrs. Thomas Harmon, David Hort, Hazel Irwin, Betty Ann Jones, Betty Lambert, Mary Lee Lanford, Kathy Lawson, Reverend Daryll Smiley, Lilly Stricklin and Nancy Swegan for their continued dedication to our ministry. If you would like to volunteer your time and talents to one of our Centers please call Stephanie at 615/383-2115.
Fall 2000: Adolescence and Substance Abuse
Summer 2000: Hospitality, A Context for Care and Healing