A Coordinated Battle

In Santa Ana and Anaheim, church and state are not as separate as they used to be, and the result, without compromising any bedrock Constitutional concepts, promises to produce a healthier, more livable and crime-free community.

In a coordinated effort prompted by a mutual concern over the growing drug problem and local government’s failure to adequately address the issue, members of 15 churches in Santa Ana and Anaheim have successfully banded together to secure a commitment from the Anaheim and Santa Ana city councils that they would launch a coordinated effort to help eradicate drugs. That effort will include police, prosecutors, judges and city and school officials, among others.

The approach is not new. It was used more than 10 years ago when priests from Northern California came into Santa Ana to teach barrio residents how to organize and get action rather than lip service from government officials.

But this is the most widespread use of the church-oriented program in the county thus far, involving hundreds of members of 15 churches and synagogues in an ecumenical approach that seeks to prompt local government to use its powers and resources to adequately address the community concerns raised by the congregations.

It is a tool that has proven effective. And it has drawn the interest of U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), who is scheduled to meet this week with the group that has adopted the formal name of Orange County Congregation-Community Organizations. The interfaith group, after deciding to zero in on the “drug epidemic,” studied the problem for 6 months and concluded that local agencies are not coordinating effective programs, that too few police officers and prosecutors are assigned to the problem, that there are too few detoxification beds and jail cells, and that not enough money is being spent on anti-drug programs in the schools.

The approach taken by the 15 congregations in Anaheim and Santa Ana in targeting a specific issue, starting at the grass-roots level where it has the best chance of success, and concentrating on nonsectarian stands that solely seek to improve community life, is a realistic and effective way for congregations to get involved.