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Since 2003 the Moody Church in Chicago has strategically implemented a comprehensive model for congregational ministry to meet the needs of over 250 women experiencing family violence. This paper outlines the four-phase process used in developing the Set Free Ministries, a comprehensive faith-centered domestic violence program situated in a large urban congregation. Additionally, the authors describe the variety of interventions used, as well as the breakthroughs and challenges that women and families face when struggling with all types of abuse and violence. The paper closes with an outcome testimony exemplifying the struggles women encounter when confronting family violence.
AS WRITTEN IN ROMANS 12:15 (NIV), "REJOICE WITH THOSE WHO rejoice; mourn with those who mourn," congregations experience a sense of community and family while living out the essence of discipleship Scripture teaches day by day In Christ we rejoice with each other in the celebrations of marriages and new births. We mourn when loss in the family occurs. Congregations also have the opportunity to be intentional and engaged when encountering the pain of family violence within the body. Often it is easy to view family violence as a personal or private issue rather than a congregational responsibility (Kimball, 2002; Levitt, & Ware, 2006; Nason-Clark & Clark Kroeger, 2004). But abuse negatively impacts all social systems - the abused, the abusers, the children, the extended family, the congregation, and the surrounding community, so our interventions as Christians and social workers must address all of these.
A number of studies have explored the relationship between religious involvement and incidents of family violence (Christman, 2008). Still other studies document problems likely associated with congregational culture and levels of family violence (Gall, 2005). For example, Ellison and Anderson (200 1) conducted a quantitative study to explore links between religion and family violence. They suggest that regular church-attendance may be associated with a diminished risk for perpetrating family abuse among men who attended church weekly and women who attend monthly.
More recently, Christman (2008) found that church members of an evangelical church reported having been abused through any form of interpersonal violence at a prevalence rate of 74% for females and 69% for males. Additionally she suggests in her study findings that a slight religious protective barrier appears as the...