Story Tools

Email this story | Print this story

Indexes

Today's Stories

Last 7 Days

Top Blogs

• Abrahamson Printing presses two families together in Lodi

• As Stockton eyes growth, the greenbelt movement in Lodi stalls, hits hurdles

• Locals weigh in on greenbelt

• Local school, friends mourn death of Lockeford soldier

• Festival of Fly Fishing in Lodi

• Galt teacher Debra Crane honored for engineering program

• Regional Roundup

February 9th, 2010

• Middle College High School rated one of the best — and a bargain, to boot

• Lodi decathlon boasts top team in county

• Man who sparked counterfeit case pleads guilty

• Local businessman will visit Haiti to look for family

• Man who claimed to be Yosemite Sam pleads guilty to meth charge

• David Harmer seeks Republican congressional nod

• Lack of evidence in case against suspect in 'drug deal' stabbing

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Regional Roundup

February 2nd, 2010

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Correction

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Jumpers across California

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

ADVERTISEMENT

New Galt Methodist Pastor Helen Mansfield grew up in civil rights era

Helen Mansfield, a newcomer to Galt as the pastor at Galt United Methodist Church, has a varied background. She and her family participated in civil rights marches in Florida to end segregation. Now she's a minister.

Mansfield, 54, replaces Craig Dale, who took over at Antioch United Methodist Church after serving in Galt for eight years.

Mansfield comes to Galt after serving as youth pastor at Federated Church in Placerville, her home church the past 10 years. She grew up in the San Fernando Valley before moving to Florida at the end of eighth grade, when her mother was offered a teaching position at Bethune-Cookman College.

"I was furious with her for moving us clear across the country, but it turned out to be quite the adventure," Mansfield said. "As a family, we got involved with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Martin Luther King's group."

Galt Methodist averages 65 people attending services. The church has a little more than 100 members.

Mansfield is married to Victor Izzo. They have two sons, Matthew and Drew Izzo.

Mansfield responded to an e-mailed questionnaire from News-Sentinel Religion Editor Ross Farrow.

Q: What did you do in Florida with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference?

A: The conference came to Daytona Beach because the hotel industry there was still practicing subtle segregation and discrimination. If you were African-American, you could sit at a table for hours and not get any service, and you were not allowed to work in the higher-paying positions of waiter or waitress.

The march was to highlight the discrimination that was happening throughout the tourist industry in Florida and to raise awareness about poverty at a time when the government was spending so much on the space program. We wallked from Daytona Beach to Cape Canaveral, about 100 miles. I was only 14 at the time, but remember feeling like I was part of history.

We also stuffed envelopes, canvassed neighborhoods, brought groups to key meetings like city council, county government meetings, etc., staffed information tables at high-profile places and, of course, (attended) demonstrations to draw attention to the problem. My mom, being a speech and English professor, helped with press releases and publicity.

Q: What is one of your strongest childhood memories?

A: My brothers and I went on a civil rights march to what was called Cape Canaveral then, but now it's the Kennedy Space Center. Two days of walking, sleeping on floors in churches, singing gospel songs, having things thrown at us and obscenities shouted from cars driving past — it was all a real eye-opener.

When we got home, my grandparents were all excited because my brothers and I had been the picture behind Walter Cronkite on the evening news.

Q: What is one of your most prized possessions?

A: I have a picture that was taken during spring break in Mexico of me and a little girl named Anahi. We had gone to Mexico to build a house through Amor Ministries, and this little 4-year-old stole my heart. She taught me Spanish, and hammered and nailed and stuccoed with us the whole week.

Q: What is one of the most difficult decisions you have had to make?

A: The decision to start seminary. I didn't need to work, but was really feeling called to ministry and just wasn't sure how any of this was going to work.

Our boys were 10 and 12, and we were carting them to a small, public country school 25 minutes from our house. Seminary was 120 miles away, and it just seemed like it wasn't doable. But eight years later I graduated, and while it was work, it also was a joy.

There were several points where I wondered what in the world I thought I was doing, and every time God gave me support in the form of wonderful people who showed up at just the right time.

Q: When have you questioned your faith?

A: I really have always had a strong sense of God's presence in my life, but as a teenager, I really struggled with the church. My Sunday school teacher used the Bible to justify segregation, which was still quite prevalent in the small town we moved to in Florida. I just knew that wasn't right, but couldn't really find anyone to help me understand how scripture could be read any other way. I checked out on church, but I never checked out on God.

Q: For what do you most often ask for forgiveness?

A: Probably the urge to maintain control instead of trusting that God's in charge, and for not making more time to just sit and listen to God.

Q: What are your future goals?

A: We mainline denominations are missing a whole generation of people — the 20-40-somethings. I would love to find a way to connect with that age group, to be in relationship with them and help them find a way to be in relationship with God.

I believe my congregation wants to reach those folks as well. We have just a few in that age group, and we all feel like our worship should reflect the kingdom better by being more multi-generational. And it isn't just about getting them into worship — it's about giving them a place of community that values diversity and cares for everyone, especially the marginalized.

That's the loving neighbor part of the greatest commandment, and doing that is one of the best ways we have to love God, the first part. So it's a goal I think I share with my congregation.

Q: If you weren't a pastor, what do you think you would be doing?

A: It probably would be something in the line of social work, but I honestly cannot see myself doing anything else but this! I get to use all of the gifts God has given me in one place being a pastor, and being a pastor brings me more joy than any other vocation I have tried.

Q: What is your proudest achievement?

A: It's not mine alone, but one I share with my husband, and that would be our two boys. They both want to make a difference in the world — one is studying to be a teacher, and the other is planning to be a doctor and work for an organization like Doctors Without Borders (he went to Kenya all by himself this past summer to work in an orphanage).

Because the youngest is in his senior year, they are still living in Cameron Park, and they go to church at Federated even when their parents aren't there to make them!

Q: What is your favorite scripture passage, and why?

A: It would be a dead tie between Micah 6:8, "What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God," and Matthew 22:37-40, "Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"

This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Those two passages are the essence of how God calls us to live.

Q: Do you have any other hobbies, sports, diversions?

A: Reading, watching movies and camping with my family. I love to sew, but haven't in years, though I have dragged the machine out of the closet!

Q: Aside from the Bible and other religious materials, what are your favorite books?

A: I split my recreational reading between theology and murder mysteries (I know, not particularly consistent). Two of my favorite mystery writers are Tony Hillerman and Marcia Muller.

Q: What are your favorite TV show and movie?

A: I don't really watch much TV, though we like to hang out as a family and watch "Numb3rs" on Friday nights. I like the relationships in the show, and I like that it makes math glamorous (I was a math major for a while in college).

So does a trilogy count as one favorite? If so, then "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy is my favorite movie.

Q: Which celebrity would you most like to meet? Why?

A: I would love to meet Arlo Guthrie. Besides enjoying his music, he runs a foundation that gives people the opportunity to make the world a better place, and he's a great storyteller.

Q: If you were on a desert island, what three CDs would you take along and why?

A: David Wilcox's "Into the Mystery," The Beatles' "1" and Flogging Molly's "Float." I can listen to all three of those and never get tired of them.