“The Reverend and Me” by Robert Wineburg

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The subject of social welfare is an arduous and controversial one within the scope of the USA. The society has a controversial stance on social welfare in general because the majority of the population considers themselves Christian, and at the same time is vehemently opposing to anything having ties to the Left. The controversy comes from the fact that Christianity, as a rule, promotes kindness and charity, especially towards those in need, while the tenets of modern capitalism state that through hard work and dedication, anyone can become rich and successful. Unfortunately, that is not always the truth.

The practical case study titled “The Reverend and Me” serves the purpose of showcasing important connections between social welfare programs, religious communities, and religious leaders within said communities. It was written by Robert Wineburg – a Jefferson Pilot Excellence Professor. He is famous for being the co-founder of the Welfare Reform Liaison Project – a project aimed at assisting the needs of both economically disadvantaged individuals and their employees.

The man explores the relationship between federal domestic social welfare policy and service provision and also the involvement of religious organizations in local service delivery and policy development.

The case study begins with the purpose statement – Wineburg highlights that the themes that have to be reflected on in formulating one’s opinion about welfare are perspectives on social welfare and how is it viewed in the community, the role of faith communities in the provision of healthcare services, and the role of local leaders and interpersonal relationships in community work. At the beginning of the text, the author reflects on how employment and income serve as a platform for self-sufficiency, independence, and freedom, and how families and households could be threatened with the loss of a primary breadwinner and forced into poverty.

Then, Wineburg states the humanitarian nature of Christianity and that the majority of the populace perceives the Church and its religious community as an entity morally responsible for the distribution of welfare and assistance of those in need.

He muses that embracing religion and requesting help from the Church is not something done willingly, but more as something that is done as a last resort as such welfare organizations need to walk a thin line between helping those who have run out of options to improve their well-being through work and dedication and becoming a charity that sponsors everyone indiscriminately. Wineburg also mentions that the popular opinion in modern society is that most people end up below the poverty line through the weakness of their character rather than unfortunate circumstances that affected their upbringing, education, and life in general.

This fact reaffirms the belief that Christian communities are expected to give these people moral strength and help them out to recovery. This idea was popular in the legislative circles for a long time, since Ronald Reagan’s new deal and ending with George Bush’s program of Faith-based and community initiatives.

Then, Wineburg introduces us to the principles of his community service project – the WRLP. As he states in the following paragraph, the project managed to connect hundreds of welfare and community service organizations and managed to provide at least 75% of the students and activists participating in the effort with jobs. The informative statement at the start of the introduction slowly shifts towards Calbert Richmond and the stories he has to share on social welfare.

This part of the case study is important, as it showcases the factors behind social work and welfare in a real-life example. The story revolves around the Hillside College Basketball community, which was often referred to as “Geezer ball” because many mature people attended it, including the author, and Reverend Calbert Richmond. The setting, however, is of little consequence to the story, as it only serves as a background to introduce the characters one to another.

What is important is the interaction between Robert Wineburg and the Reverend. In the beginning, the Reverend is portrayed as a kind and well-meaning, but stern man. Being a self-made man who managed to obtain his position and status through hard work and dedication, he is not very tolerant towards the poor, as he believes that some of them simply found the way to cheat the system and are living off on welfare. He also is a firm believer that hard work and dedication would be able to alleviate anyone above the poverty level.

Naturally, being a welfare worker and having seen the situation first-hand, Robert Wineburg disagrees with this assessment of the situation. Their verbal duels, much like their basketball games, are rather to-the-point, as Wineburg did not feel the need to give the Reverend any quarter. Richmond, in this case, study, is represented as a typical member of an American community – generally well-meaning and Christian, but not so keen on actually practicing the tenets of Jesus.

The argument revolves around a hypothetical single mother working minimum wages and earning around 956 dollars a month. Wineburg asks Richmond on what Jesus would do and if he would chastise this woman for being poor and not working enough. The backbone of the author’s argument could be summarized in these words: “When you think about it, putting 1.5 million women in the labor force in good economic times for such minimum wages enables companies like yours to wine and dine their clients lavishly because their low-end workers are eating cake” (Wineburg, 2000, p. 174).

In a series of chats that followed after this one, Wineburg managed to influence Richmond to create a welfare non-profit organization and use his business acumen and influence to help thousands of lives. The importance of religion and interpersonal relationships is showcased in this scenario. The argument between Wineburg and Richmond is not new – it has been repeated a million times between proponents and opponents of welfare. The difference between an argument between strangers and an argument between friends, however, is in the fact that in the latter situation, both sides are more willing to accept the other side.

Jesus and his teachings were used as a punch line, as the Reverend is a servant of Jesus and the promoter of his ideas and his divine will. The reason why Richmond’s venture was more successful than most is because he operated in his community, which he knew well and was known for his sound judgment, good reputation, professionalism, and love of God. The case once more reaffirms the notion that a positive and dedicate welfare program should rely on the local religious groups and community leaders to be effective, as was demonstrated in the case with Reverend Richmond and his non-profit welfare organization in a predominantly African-American community.

References

Wineburg, R. (2000). The reverend and me: Faith communities and Public Welfare. In D. P Fauri and F.E. Netting (Eds.), Cases in macro social work practice (pp. 172-174). Needgam Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Web.

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“The Reverend and Me” by Robert Wineburg

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