Will church lecture series get churches off the Medicaid expansion sidelines? We will see

Mississippi’s faith community has generally remained on the sidelines in the fracas over the state’s possible expansion of its Medicaid health insurance program.

I admit to having sat in the pews of fewer than three church sanctuaries in this state in recent times. But, I do watch and voraciously read the news. I have seen or heard no coverage of individual churches entering this discussion.

That’s about to change as Jackson’s Galloway United Methodist Church, which over time has confronted myriad issues of social concern to the capital community and the state, will host a weekend of lectures likely to include the subject of Medicaid expansion.

Galloway Senior Minister Cary Stockett said in announcing the Oct. 27-28 event that the precise purpose of the lectures is not, as he put it, the “legislative football that (Medicaid) has become.”

However, “We want it understood that this is a kingdom of God issue, grossly ignored right in the middle of the Bible Belt. We want the people who quote John 3:16 to understand that it matters to Jesus that there are people (‘our Mississippi neighbors’) without real access to good healthcare, and so it should matter to us, too.”

This endowed annual lecture series honors a beloved member of Galloway Church, the Rev. T. W. Lewis, a veteran United Methodist minister and professor at Millsaps College, who “has consistently borne witness for justice, particularly during the early struggles for civil rights in Mississippi and for LGBTQ persons in church and society in this present day.”

The series begins at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27, with lectures by the Rev. Dr. Chuck Poole, former pastor of Northminster Baptist Church; and Dr. Sandra Melvin, founder of The Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health.

It continues Saturday, Oct. 28, at 8:45 a.m. with talks by Poole; Von Gordon, director of The Alluvial Collective (formerly the William Winter Institute); and the Rev. Dr. Jason Coker, president of Together for Hope. Dr. Dan Jones, former chancellor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, speaks at 12:30 p.m., followed at 1:15 p.m. by Dr. Michelle Owens, a Jackson OB-GYN and president of the State Board of Medical Licensure. The event ends with a panel discussion of the issues presented.

Mississippi is one of 10 states that have not fully expanded Medicaid, sadly leaving millions of low-income people in a health insurance coverage gap. All of those states have either a Republican governor or a legislature controlled by the Grand Old Party.

Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, has remained an opponent of Medicaid expansion in this state. Some 225,000 residents of Mississippi would be added to the program’s rolls under expansion. The move also would help many financially struggling hospitals in the state. Some are on the threshold of closure.

The Associated Press reported that Mississippi’s Medicaid enrollment increased from 716,896 in March 2020 to 904,590. The state’s population is slightly below 3 million.

Whether to expand Medicaid is a hot-button issue in Reeves’ bid for a second term. He faces Democrat Brandon Presley in the Nov. 7 general election.

“While we will not avoid mention of Medicaid Expansion, our purpose is to bring people of faith to see good healthcare as a corollary of Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself,” Rev. Stockett said.

Might the series at Galloway Church help produce a come-to-Jesus decision to expand Medicaid that’s far overdue in the minds of many Mississippians? Only a Galloway Church member named Tate Reeves can answer that question.

— Mac Gordon is a native of McComb. He is a retired newspaperman. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS Churches have remained silent on Medicaid expansion