Church work with addicts

Dedrick J. Minor

The purpose of this project was to research the spirituality of Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA), a twelve-step program for individuals who desire to stop their sexual compulsive behaviors, to develop a pastoral guide for spiritual caregivers to sex addicts. Due to the contentiousness of the concept of sexual addiction, few pastoral care guides exist to reach sex addicts and this project addressed that need. The project director utilized both primary and secondary sources related to the fields of pastoral care and counseling while researching the spirituality of SAA, adapting his findings to the specific spiritual needs of sex addicts. This project culminated in the development of a pastoral care guide to be utilized by spiritual caregivers in the provision of pastoral care to the sexually addicted. The final state of this project was the completion of a pastoral care guide for spiritual caregivers to assist them in ministering to sex addicts.

Stephen Reid Guy

The purpose of this project was to equip selected leaders at Carterville Baptist Church, Petal, Mississippi, with addiction recovery ministry skills. The project director researched the topic of addiction in order to determine skills needed by individuals to minister to those struggling with addiction. Research was completed by using books, journals, websites, periodicals, and expert interviews. The research was used to develop a curriculum that was taught to the selected group in five sessions. participants were evaluated by the utilization of a pre-test and a post-test, role playing, and commitment cards. Two professional goals for this project were to increase the project director’s knowledge on the topic of addiction recovery ministry and to develop a curriculum.

Donna Seay D.Min.

Addiction continues to be on the rise in the United States and affects both individuals and families who suffer from this disease. “Empowering The Church To Promote Hope and Healing to Those Suffering From Addiction” was designed to educate, equip, and empower members of the church to journey with those who suffer from addiction. The four-week curriculum was based on the four functions of Pastoral Care which are healing, guiding, sustaining, and reconciliation. The project utilized a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the results. Participants were provided theological and biblical foundations for the four functions of pastoral care.

Kyle E Routzahn

The scope of this project is to equip selected addiction-recovery ministry leaders in east Mississippi with group facilitation skills. The pastor of Union Baptist Church in Clarke County, Mississippi, is planning to launch Christian addiction-recovery ministries centered on weekday Celebrate Recovery [registered symbol] meetings. The ministries are collaborative works involving selected Chrsitians from Southern Baptist churches in the local Baptist associations. Phase two of these ministries include the addition of a rotating Friday night contemporary worship service at the same non-church locations where the weekday meetings will be held. Three goals are the foundation of this Doctor of Ministry equipping project. The first goal is to research addiction recovery in order to identify group facilitation skills. The second goal is to develop a curriculum to equip selected addiction-recovery ministry leaders in east Mississippi, in group facilitation skills. The third and final project goal is to equip selected addiction-recovery ministry leaders in east Mississippi, in group facilitation skills. The project director's primary purpose in implementing this project is for the world to see that Jesus Christ is alive and still setting captives free.

Herbert E Hudson

Churches divorced themselves from the problem of addiction following the Repeal of Prohibition, and only recently have begun to support and utilize Twelve Step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Celebrate Recovery. Research consisting of a written survey and in-depth interviews determined how informed and favorable clergy were toward the Twelve Step movement. Pastors generally approved and encouraged Twelve Step activity, yet often lacked understanding of it. A syllabus for those in ministerial training was proposed on addiction recovery and the Twelve Step philosophy.

Pamela W Morrison

Statistics documenting recidivism among ex-offenders and recovering addicts are grim. The rate is at least 50% following incarceration or treatment. The author proposes that churches need to do more. Church members, equipped to minister, must be out among them. The author contends that recovering addicts and ex-offenders must be drawn into the church. The paradigm of the separate Alcoholics Anonymous community, as the sole place of help, must change. Even simply renting a space to an Alcoholics Anonymous group in a church building is not enough. The author describes seven ways for the church to minister in these areas.

James Edward Erwin

The purpose of this project is to establish a new church for substance abusers to help them overcome their addictions in Barry County, Missouri. The need for this new church is great, as will be illustrated in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 of this project will show the biblical rationale for the need to reach out to substance abusers. This project will also describe, in Chapter 3, the history of one type of church-the Set Free Church-which has been successful in reaching out to substance abusers to help them overcome the addiction cycle. A plan will be formed with a core group and a set of partners to help grow this new church. Finally, this project will be analyzed in Chapter 4 and evaluated in Chapter 5 to determine what other potential church planters can learn in their context.

Nyreia Harrington-Stephens

This project was developed to impact the healing journey of married couples recovering from the effects of chemical addiction using formational prayer principles. A marriage seminar was provided for four married couples dealing with chemical addiction in their marriage. The participants learned about formational prayer principles, core longings, dysfunctional behaviors and emotional attachment. The results were measured using a verbal extent scale. As a result, the seminar helped the married couples to connect more deeply in prayer, understand the detrimental effects of chemical addiction on their mariage, and discover their individual core longings and their impact on mariage.

Kenneth Foy

The purpose of this project was to equip a selected group of Christian lay counselors at the Celebration Hope Center of Metairie, Louisiana to provide substance dependence treatment. To gain an understanding of substance dependence treatment and how this issue has become widespread, the project director researched and provided current statistics on substance dependence. Educational and substance abuse professionals were enlisted to review materials utilized in the development of the workshop. The project director also utilized scripture to validate and support the treatment approach. The project director assisted Christian lay counselors in conceptualizing the nature and character of substance dependence. The project director enabled Christian lay counselors to provide substance dependence treatment by combining a faith-based and twelve-step model. The project director used various teaching methods to allow Christian lay counselors to examine the many dynamics of substance dependence treatment.

David W Snyder

In 2010, 77% of inmates in our county jail were incarcerated due to drug and alcohol-related offenses. This project considers how a local church jail ministry team can help address this problem through a weekly recovery-focused Bible study. Serving as chaplain volunteers, a men's team and a women's team entered the jail bringing a focus on Twelve Step Recovery while examining biblical roots of the steps. Inmates report that this approach is effective for learning how to live free of drugs and alcohol upon release, and they show evidence of the spiritual awakening described by the founders of AA.