| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name
 | Date | Lines | 
|---|
| 704.1 |  | MIMS::CASON_K |  | Mon Mar 27 1995 12:49 | 19 | 
|  |     When dealing with cases of abuse (spousal or child) one of the
    hinderances to counseling or programs are government guidelines.  A
    minister has confidential protection except in the area of abuse.  If
    Mrs. Jones comes to me as a minister and says that she needs help
    because she has this problem or that problem and the end result is she
    takes it out on her child, I must report that to the proper government
    agency or I become criminally liable.  That is not to say that there
    are not cases where you would want the benefit of government resources
    but by and large the government SOP is either swift action or total
    apathy.  They will either take the child, lock up the parent, then 
    investigate, or do nothing at all until the child is seriously hurt 
    or dead.  The area of counseling in general is a slippery area because 
    unless the minister is trained (certified is even better) as a counselor, 
    and many aren't, then the potential for lawsuits escalates.  Many pastors 
    simply opt not to put themselves in that position unless they are asked 
    to.  It's a sad state but very real.
    
    Kent
    
 | 
| 704.2 |  | TOKNOW::METCALFE | Eschew Obfuscatory Monikers | Mon Mar 27 1995 12:54 | 14 | 
|  | >    So...does anyone have an outreach to victims of abuse they can tell me
>    about?
A member of my new church participates (leads?) in an outreach to something 
I cannot tell you about in this forum.  (Hint.)
My former church participates in supplying food to one of the local food
shelters (once a month, with four other churches, I think) and also a
meal for the shelter every week, other week, or so (I don't remember).
By working with other churches, the burden is shared.  Not bad, says I, if
you can't do it all by yourself.
Mark
 | 
| 704.3 | Recovery groups in Bolton and Harvard, MA | DKAS::DKAS::WIKOFF_T | Tanya Wikoff, MR01-3 297-2087, Home is wherever your loved ones | Fri Jun 02 1995 14:45 | 24 | 
|  |     There is are a couple counciling/outreach/bible-study groups either
    hosted by people in our church or as a ministry that is supported by
    our church, which is Trinity in Bolton, MA.  There is a Thursday night 
    mixed group that is a Christian 12-step ministry which began at Trinity
    and has grown to be separate but related to our church.  Men and women
    in this group may be tackling tackling alcoholism or co-dependent
    behavior.  For more info, contact Hartley or Karen Webster in Harvard
    MA at (508)456-3942.
    
    There is also a Women in Recovery bible study which started small and 
    has grown over the past few years.  Part of what they do is pair a
    person with another woman who has been in the group longer for more
    private one-on-one, as well as group bible-study.  Some of the women 
    in this group have had to deal with sexual and physical abuse.  There 
    may have been a small group that met that dealt specifically with 
    sexual abuse, but I don't know the specifics.  The contact person for 
    this womens group is Anne Deufel in Bolton, (508)779-6593.
    
    For any other contact information, please feel free to call me at home
    in Sudbury, (508)443-1375.
    
    Love in Christ,
    Tanya Wikoff
    
 | 
| 704.4 |  | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Mon Apr 15 1996 15:47 | 26 | 
|  | 
 Yesterday on "The Coral Ridge Hour" Dr. D James Kennedy spoke on the church's
 responsibility to those on welfare.  It was an inspiring message, a bit
 convicting in that he was challenging churches to help to reduce the
 dependance on welfare.  In the brief piece after his message, several
 churches in the south that sponsor programs to reduce the welfare roles
 were presented, along with numbers that showed how effective they were.
 One church bought a few local businesses and hired people on welfare, at
 the same time running schools for the children/families free of charge,
 where work ethic and skills as well as the basics of education were taught.
 It was quite encouraging hearing the people who participated in these programs
 speak and share their experiences.  
 It has me wondering if churches (mine included) should be spending the money
 for big church buildings (which I know are needed) when perhaps that money
 could be better spent on such programs which could have an impact on
 generations.
 It also was heartening to read about the good that Christians are doing,
something which I doubt we'll see on the evening news.
Jim
 |