Pastors searching for a way to minister to casino employees

BILOXI, Miss. - Just blocks from the sandy Gulf of Mexico beaches where casino lights beckon gamblers 24 hours a day, the Rev. Arthur Lewis has found himself in a quandary.

Lewis' St. Paul United Methodist Church, a brick structure that sits opposite a Greyhound station and less than two miles from the casino strip, has a doctrine against gambling. It also has members who work at the gaming houses, including Lewis' daughter-in-law.

"One (congregation member) was working at McDonald's making $5 an hour, then went to the casino making $28,000 at the Beau Rivage," he said. "I said, 'Well, just try your best to do what you can for your family and put something back to finish your education.'

"I don't know what to say. I pray about it a lot. Everybody's fighting with this."

Angela, a St. Paul member who did not want to give her last name, works at Grand Casino in Biloxi. She said she was hesitant about taking the job, but decided it was better than not working.

"We had just moved here, and it was like 'get the first job that comes,"' she said.

Of his 366 church members, Lewis believes less than 10 work at the casinos. Others may frequent the establishments to eat the bargain-priced buffets or enjoy entertainment that is scarce elsewhere on the coast.

He said both practices can lead to the temptation of dropping a token in a slot machine or taking a chance at the tables.

Unfortunately, Lewis said, the community is sent a mixed message when he stands behind the pulpit condemning gambling and the church down the street does business with a casino.

First Baptist Church in Biloxi sold its property to the Beau Rivage for $7.5 million in August. First Baptist's pastor, the Rev. Frank Gunn, refuses to talk about the transaction as do many of the church members.

Church leaders have said the money will be used to build a bigger church in a growing area of the city.

First Baptist still preaches against gambling, but it also tries to offer some sensitivity to those in its 1,200-member congregation who work on the boats, said church spokesman R.B. Bryant.

"People have to earn a living. Our Savior didn't discriminate," he said.

The Southern Baptist Convention denounces gambling, and has done so for 110 years.

The dilemma these houses of God face is not peculiar to Mississippi, said Barrett Duke, a specialist on gambling issues with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville.

"Mississippi was perhaps the most susceptible because the economy was just so depressed," Duke said. "Many other areas of the country have a broader economic base."

In Las Vegas, where gaming provides most of the jobs in the city, the Rev. Tony Forehand of Desert Hills Baptist Church said he tries to focus less on the sin of gambling and more on its impact on people.

"We deal with the frustration," Forehand said. "I see more frustration from the people who have to work there. They don't want to be in that environment. You just gotta keep pointing them back to Jesus."

Casinos began operating in Mississippi in 1992, and with them came jobs.

The gaming industry is directly responsible for creating 38,000 jobs in the state, said Ernie Stebbins, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Association in Jackson.

Stebbins said about 22,000 additional jobs have been created because companies had to hire more employees to handle the increased supply of goods and services to the casinos.

Gaming's economic impact in Mississippi is probably most evident in Tunica County. Once a land of poverty, the area is now a vacation destination, offering gambling, boxing, golf and musical entertainment in the likes of Ringo Starr at its many casinos.

Tunica County has an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent after decades of double-digit joblessness.

Despite the county's newfound prosperity, the Rev. Paul Husband still stands firm against casinos, and he said that has not made him very popular.

Husband, who leads a congregation of 121 at Tunica Presbyterian Church, said an increase in jobs is not worth the problems that accompany gaming, like crime and a breakdown of the family.

"There are a lot of minimum wage workers saying 'I can't wait to get my paycheck. I'm going to hit it big tonight,"' Husband said. "I just wished the casinos had never come."

Husband said he tells members who are employed at the casino they must follow their conscience.

"If your conscience doesn't condemn you and you've got to feed your family, I'm not going to tell somebody to quit their job," Husband said.

While the Baptists and Methodists have a doctrine against gambling, Bishop Joseph Howze of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi said the Catholic Church has never condemned the practice.

"Taking chances is not sinful," said Howze. "The Catholic Church all across the country has been playing bingo for generations."

Gaming is no different from purchasing stocks, bonds and insurance, Howze said.

Lewis said he leaves church pamphlets in hotels, offering visitors an alternative to the casinos. He said church members are also trying to establish a gambling anonymous group.

He said one of the church's ultimate goals is to create other economic and social outlets for coast residents.

Duke said the Southern Baptist Convention encourages its pastors to help develop businesses that offer careers outside of gaming.

"Right now, we're in a gambling boon, but it's not going to last," Duke said. "These communities that have put their hopes on gambling are going to see that."

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