LIMA — A faith-based community organization that is struggling to find its financial footing will host an evening of “snacks and facts” and prayer on New Year’s Eve. The boards of Church Women United in the Lima Area and the Mizpah Community Center, which CWU owns, will be hosting a prayer vigil from 7 p.m. until midnight Dec. 31 at Family of Faith United Methodist Church, 801 Bellefontaine Ave.
“We’re in a crisis situation,” said the Rev. Marcia Rummel, a retired United Methodist pastor who is a board member of CWU and serves as chaplain on the Mizpah Community Center’s board. “We’ve got a lot of turnoff notices and can’t pay the bills. And when we realized things were this bad, about a day ago, I said, ‘All I know to do is pray.’”
Current board members will be available to answer questions about recent leadership changes at CWU and the Mizpah Community Center, said Rummel. A year and a half ago, the Mizpah Center’s board underwent a major upheaval in its members and Church Women United paid off about $11,000 in the center’s debt. Then, in August, Mizpah’s director, Vickie Shurelds, abruptly announced her resignation, citing an impasse with board members. She also said she was operating the center with little funding and virtually no pay.
Rummel declined to comment further about the impasse or the causes behind the community center’s financial woes. She said donations have declined. “Many supporters of our ministry were informed that the ministry was closing, and we are not,” said Rummel. “We have been continuing to serve.”
CWU and the Mizpah Community Center provides after-school programs to more than 50 children, grades K-8, and provides them with snacks and an evening meal. The organizations also distribute food from West Ohio Food Bank.
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