Wyoming church pledges $100K for suicide prevention funding

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - On a Sunday in September, morning light drifted through stained glass as churchgoers in Rock Springs raised their eyes to God.

In Basin, a congregation joined voices to sing an opening hymn. In Thermopolis, they bowed their heads, opened their hearts and asked for mercy.

Then the prayers - recited in each of those Episcopalian churches - became specific.

“God of Mercy, hear our prayer for ourselves, our friends and families who hold painful memories of loss, grief and suicide,” the priests read. “We ask for strength for today, courage for tomorrow and peace for the past.”

Not many Christian sects have a service specifically dedicated to suicide prevention. In many churches, suicide is taboo - something to be whispered about over after-service coffee but never mentioned from the pulpit. For some, suicide is a violation of the Fifth Commandment - thou shall not kill. For some, those who die by suicide are damned to hell.

But the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming doesn’t condemn those souls. Instead, the 49 parishes across the state are actively attempting to save them. Suicide prevention has been a priority for the Episcopal church in Wyoming for years. But after state lawmakers drastically cut funding for prevention earlier this year, the church’s efforts further intensified.

It’s an obligation, Bishop John Smylie said, especially in a state that consistently has one of the highest rates of suicide.

“It’s become the moral priority for the diocese,” he said.

In 2016, more than 130 people died by suicide in Wyoming. In 2015, the most recent year for which national data is available, the state had the highest rate of suicide in the nation - 28 deaths by suicide for every 100,000 residents. Wyoming consistently ranks in the top five states with the highest rates.

After lawmakers cut suicide prevention funding this year, the diocese pledged $100,000 for local churches to use toward that aim. Parishes across the state have held trainings and recruited speakers.

But Smylie wants one thing to be clear: This was a one-time gift. It’s the job of the Legislature to fund suicide prevention and awareness, not the diocese’s, he said.

“I don’t understand the thinking of the legislators and how they can choose not to care about this profound crisis,” he said. “This is their responsibility.”

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During the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers voted to cut $2.1 million from the Wyoming Health Department’s $5.7 million budget for suicide and substance abuse prevention.

That cut has deeply affected the Prevention Management Organization of Wyoming, the nonprofit that the state contracts with to provide prevention services.

The organization no longer has the money needed for informational campaigns, training materials or prevention efforts focused on specific at-risk communities and is only able to facilitate suicide intervention trainings with the help of the Episcopal diocese.

Local PMO staff partner with the Episcopal church in their area and request funding from the diocese’s foundation. The nonprofit can provide the trainer, but money for materials and space now comes from the church.

“It’s possible we would’ve been able to do intermittent training,” said CEO Keith Hotle. “But eventually that would’ve dwindled away all together.”

“It really was a saving grace. A blessing.”

The Episcopal diocese first started working with the PMO on suicide prevention in 2014, but the relationship became more formal after lawmakers cut the budget. In July, the bishop sent a letter to legislators and the governor condemning the cuts.

“The Scripture says, ’For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,’” he wrote. “Have you no heart for the individuals and families who suffer so greatly from suicide? Your budget would suggest this to be true.”

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Once a month, Rev. Tom Fiske gathers families grieving a loved one who died by suicide. They meet in a room in Gillette College’s technical education center and discuss their loss, their bewilderment, their healing. Talking doesn’t always ease the pain, but at least they know they’re not alone.

Facilitating the support group is separate from his role as an Episcopalian priest, Fiske said. His work with people affected by suicide predates the church’s decision to prioritize the issue. It’s personal.

Fiske still grieves the death of his sister, Betsy. She killed herself nearly 50 years ago. His father also died by suicide, 12 years earlier.

It gets better over time, he said, but the loss is too profound to ever truly dissipate.

“It still leaves a pit in my stomach,” he said.

In 2015, the church’s foundation approved a $23,000 grant for suicide prevention work at Fiske’s church. Most of that money was spent on a two-day training so that people in northeast Wyoming could better help those affected by suicide. After the training, the church had about $7,000 left over.

The parish put that money in a savings account. Later, it would be used to help families affected by suicide. Not just for counseling, but also for cleanup of the physical mess left behind.

“Since we live in Wyoming, most of the suicides that do occur are by a middle-aged man with a gun,” Fiske said. “Often there’s biohazard material to take care of.”

The cleanup and repair can be expensive. Walls have to be mended. Carpets cleaned. The money can help pay for motel rooms for the family while their home is fixed.

So far, the fund has helped four families recover in the wake of a suicide, Fiske said. Donors have helped replenish the money as it is spent. As Fiske sees it, the church is obligated to prevent suicide and care for those left behind.

“Whatever it takes,” he said. “The church is called to affirm life.”

Churches in other parts of the state are tailoring the funding to their own needs, said Rev. Bernadine Craft, a priest and a member of the diocese’s Episcopal Suicide Prevention Connection. In Fremont County, churches are requesting money to train law enforcement to better respond to people in crisis. In Sweetwater County, the three churches are pooling their money to bring in a man who survived an attempt to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge and now tours the country to educate audiences about suicide.

Partnering with a church and its clergy has a number of benefits, said Hotle, the PMO chief executive. Priests and deacons are often the first person to whom someone might admit depression or suicidal thoughts. Making sure the clergy are educated about suicide and equipped to handle those conversations is crucial, he said.

That is even more true in small, rural communities where there aren’t formal mental health practitioners, he added. Clergy often act as counselors when professionals are not available - there is nobody to refer the person in crisis to.

“Those priests think, ’I’m it,’” Craft said. “That can scare them to death.”

The bishop himself is trained in QPR and ASIST, which is described as “suicide first aid” by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. Most of the diocese’s 94 clergy have also been certified in one of the courses, Smylie said. Both QPR and ASIST trainings are mandatory in the diocese’s training for prospective priests and deacons.

“We can’t say we’re Christians and then turn our back on issues that our impacting our population,” Craft said.

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Clergy, like others who work in suicide prevention, constantly battle damaging cultural myths about suicide and mental illness. Depression is not a weakness, they have to repeat, it’s a health condition. Discussing suicide with someone will not cause that person to kill themself, they teach.

But within the Christian community, clergy and churchgoers have to combat a deeper theological issue. Among the faithful, there is often a belief that those who die by suicide are condemned to hell, the bishop said. The act of suicide is compared to homicide - the active taking of a life. For many years, some Christian churches would not allow a person who died by suicide to be buried in their cemeteries.

In the resolution, the church cited a Bible verse from Romans: “Nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Fiske, the priest in Gillette, was more blunt.

“We don’t condemn to hell the person who has died of cancer, or in a car wreck, or in a car wreck while they were talking on the telephone,” he said. “Nor should we condemn the person who has long suffered from depression.”

Three years ago, a coalition of Sweetwater County organizations and the diocese commissioned a Rock Springs writer to create a one-act play about suicide. His work, “Chimes,” is a stark portrayal of suicide, Craft said, and has been performed in Rock Springs for the past three years. The play follows a character who is contemplating killing himself. It’s not easy to watch, Craft said, but ultimately carries a message of hope.

This year, the play was performed for the first time in a church.

After the performance, a stranger approached Craft in the dim light. With tears in her eyes, the woman told the priest that her dad died by suicide more than 20 years ago. For all that time, the woman believed that her father was barred from heaven because of the way he died. For all that time, she bore two burdens: that of loss and that of torment.

But that night, for the first time, the woman was able to believe her father wasn’t in hell.

Finally, she said, she could believe her dad had found peace.

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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com