Friday, August 25, 2017
Get off your acre
If you were looking for help with an addiction, where would you go?
There’s a good chance you didn’t answer “church.” My friend Monty Burks, Ph.D., grew up in church but faced addiction during his college years. “I felt church wasn’t a place where people wanted to reach out and help me,” he said.
The feeling that we have to put our best face on for church can keep us from admitting our problems to pastors or fellow members. Luckily for Monty, a “church lady” who’d known him since childhood pointed him toward recovery and a new life.
Today Monty is director of Faith-Based Initiatives for the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS). It’s a groundbreaking program that equips churches to support people before, during, and after recovery. How groundbreaking is it? Monty is invited to present its principles at the White House soon.
He and others involved in faith-based recovery programs are also visiting Tennessee’s 95 counties with that information. Lawrence County’s Substance Abuse Coalition sponsored a Faith-Based Forum here last Monday night, attended by about 100 pastors and others from local congregations.
“The reason this scourge has hit us is that we haven’t talked about it,” Monty said. “But church has always been on the front line of any social problem.”
Presenters talked about their own struggles with addiction, which inspired them to help others. They are proof that people can live productive and happy lives in recovery, and they’re helping local residents discover that as well.
“People know the ugly side of addiction, but there are 26.5 million people in the United States living in long-term recovery,” said Allen Burnette, who is this region’s representative for the Lifeline Project.
Allen’s job is to help people find or establish 12-Step groups; locate appropriate treatment; and spread the word about recovery, addiction and prevention. If you need help, or a program presenter, Allen can be reached at 931-308-7689 or at Allen.b.Burnette@gmail.com.
New Vision Outreach can also help local residents find the help they need. Founder and director Randy Garza is based in Savannah, Tennessee, but his organizationworks with faith-based recovery facilities in seven states to place people in treatment programs – usually long-term and free of charge. He often provides personal transportation to treatment centers, and many times the starting point is a local jail. To learn more, visit the website NewVisionOutreach.org; email rgarza@newvisionoutreach.org; or call (731) 926-0741.
Pastor David Morgan of Lawrenceburg’s United Church unveiled plans for 8Oaks Recovery Center last Monday. The congregation has been given acreage and a retreat facility and is basing its plans on similar, successful programs in Tennessee and elsewhere. 8Oaks will be a place where men struggling with addiction will work, pray, and live together, free of charge, for 12-24 months.
Support for the program will be provided through sales of organic produce and donations. How can you help? By praying for the program’s success, by signing up for organic produce deliveries that will begin next year; volunteering to help complete the housing facility; or making donations payable to United Church, 716 S. Locust Avenue, Lawrenceburg.
Celebrate Recovery is a faith-based program with separate men and women’s groups that meet each Tuesday and Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Mars Hill Baptist Church.
Celebrate Recovery is aimed at all "hurts, habits, and hang-ups,” including high anxiety; co-dependency; compulsive behaviors; sex addiction; financial dysfunction; drug and alcohol addictions; and eating disorders. The founders felt that Alcoholics Anonymous was too vague in referring to God as a "higher power,” and wanted a more specifically Christ-based program.
Traditional Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous also hold regular meetings in Lawrence County. Times and dates can be found in local newspapers.
I’m convinced that Lawrence County churches can and will make the difference for our brothers and sisters in the grip of addiction. Statewide numbers show that there are 432,030 Tennesseans who need but are not receiving treatment, but 3,522,345 who attend church regularly. That means there are 8.2 congregation members in a position to support each person with an addiction.
Your church can help by simply passing along the avenues for help I have shared, or becoming a Certified Faith-Based Community through TDMHSAS. Let’s get off the acre of our own church grounds and respond to the calling we were founded for.
