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Chattanooga: Protestor alleges church intolerance

By: Emily Bregel
(Contact)

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Dennis Dodson

An advocate for the mentally ill has spent the past four Sunday mornings protesting what he says is a local church pastor’s intolerant attitude.

This past Sunday, as churchgoers filed into Abba’s House on Hixson Pike, East Ridge resident Dennis Dodson again stood outside the church, brandishing handmade signs, one of which read, “Mental-health folks not welcome at Abba’s House.”

Mr. Dodson said he was concerned by comments from the church’s executive pastor suggesting that the mentally ill were not welcome in his church, though church members deny that claim.

“I feel that they’re actually hurting people by turning them away instead of offering some sort of help,” said Mr. Dodson, who is director of one of the local chapters of the Depression/Bipolar Support Alliance.

Eddie Adams, executive pastor of Abba’s House, said his comments were taken out of context and that he in no way intended to say that the mentally ill were not welcome at the church.

The comments ran in the Chattanooga Times Free Press in a July 28 story after a shooting in a Knoxville church. A gunman had opened fire on a Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church congregation, killing two and wounding seven.

In discussing the security precautions at his church, Mr. Adams is quoted as saying, “You have emotionally disturbed people who come in here. We deem that as a threat. We are not here to deal with the mental-health folks. We are here to meet people’s spiritual needs first.”

Mr. Adams said in a telephone interview this week that he intended to say that the church simply is not equipped to handle serious mental health issues.

“I hate the fact that it was misunderstood,” he said. “Our thing here is to help people with their spiritual needs. ... We have a good relationship with the mental health community. We constantly refer people. We’re a spiritual hospital and not equipped to handle those other things.”

Marilou Coats, who runs a support group here for people with depression and bipolar disorder, said comments that appear to correlate mental illness with violence serve only to perpetuate misconceptions. She said she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 40 years ago.

“If the people who are in the church become familiar with those people that come to their church needing support for their mental illness ... then they would not have such a reason to fear,” she said.

About one in four U.S. adults suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Despite the numbers, people with mental illnesses face barriers to seeking help, such as limited resources and deeply entrenched stigmas, Mr. Dodson said.

“What stigma does, it drives the mentally ill underground. They don’t want to let their job know they’re having treatment; they don’t want their family to know they’re having problems,” he said.

The church can play a central role in the recovery of people struggling with mental illness, said Larry Drain, of Maryville, Tenn., an advocate for the mentally ill. Mr. Drain and his wife launched a church-based support group for people with depression and bipolar disorder after his wife, Linda, was diagnosed with the condition last year, he said.

“A lot of folks really depend on the church as a source of personal comfort and connection,” he said. “The church should be a welcoming place.”

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