Learning to Build Bridges Between Churches and Community-Based Resources

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Learning to Build Bridges Between Churches and
Community-Based Resources
Project Funded by The Lilly Endowment Inc.
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10 Reasons to Include Pastors Around the
Collaborative Table on Domestic Violence

• Chosen by victims
• Sought by perpetrators when the victim leaves the
  home
• Invested with moral authority
• Access to lives at the point of crisis
• Provide educational resources to all age groups
• Held as experts on marriage and the family
• Able to offer spiritual comfort and guidance
• Often in regular contact with those who are
  marginalized
• Able to provide ongoing support after the crisis
• Skilled in talking about hope.
• Source Nason-Clark, Nancy. Based on a 2006
  presentation given to Domestic Violence Advocates
  and Justice Personnel, West Palm Beach, Florida.

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Are clergy serious about abuse?Questions to ask
a pastor

• Do they offer a listening ear to an abused woman?
• Does their church washroom offer information
  about abuse?
• Does their congregation, or groups in it, partner
  with the local transition house?
• Do they make appropriate referrals to resources
  in the community?
• Is violence ever discussed in the church youth
  group?
• Is violence discussed in the pre-marital
  counselling?
• Do they realize the importance of spiritual
  resources for victims of abuse?
• Do they share the load for supporting families
  amongst the congregation?
• Do they offer ministry opportunities to those who
  have received the care and counsel of the church?
• Do they hold violent, controlling men accountable
  for their actions?
• Source Nason-Clark, Nancy. Based on a 2006
  presentation given at Gordon Conwell Seminary,
  Boston, MA.

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Did you know?

• Pastors believe that one in five church couples
  is violent
• 9 of pastors have counselled 5 abused women per
  year
• 83 of pastors have counselled one abused woman
  per year
• 31 of pastors say they have preached a message
  against abuse from the pulpit
• 40 of pastors say they discuss domestic violence
  in their premarital counselling.
• Source Nason-Clark, Nancy (1997) The Battered
  Wife How Christians Confront Family Violence.
  Louisville, Kentucky Westminster John Knox
  Press.

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Did you know?

• 95 of church women have never heard a message on
  abuse preached from the pulpit
• 58 of church women have helped another abused
  woman at her point of need
• 70 of church women have sought the help of
  another woman for a family-related problem
• Many church women who have been violated by an
  intimate partner do not feel that the term abused
  woman applies to them.
• Source Nason-Clark, Nancy (1997) The Battered
  Wife How Christians Confront Family Violence.
  Louisville, Kentucky Westminster John Knox
  Press.

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The Role of Clergy in Responding to Cases of
Domestic Violence

• Raising awareness
• Suggesting referrals
• Offering comfort to those who have been
  victimized
• Bringing challenge to those who act abusively
• Providing ongoing support and accountability.
• Source Nason-Clark, Nancy and Catherine Clark
  Kroeger (2004). Refuge from Abuse Hope and
  Healing for Abused Christian Women. Downers
  Grove, IN InterVarsity Press.

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The Challenge of Working TogetherBuilding
Bridges for Collaborative Action

• Two critical questions
• Are churches safe places to disclose that you
  have been violated?
• Are community agencies safe places to disclose
  that you are religious?
• Source Nason-Clark, Nancy (2000) Making the
  Sacred Safe Woman Abuse and Communities of
  Faith, Sociology of Religion 61(4) 349-68.

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For further information or reflection

• Book Resources
• Articles by our Team
• Articles by others
• CDs to order
• Information packets to order
• Book a speaking engagement
• Email the RAVE Project
• Participate in an online discussion group