On Feb 9, 2018 a group of Robertson County pastors, health workers, and recovery experts met at the UT Extension Office to discuss the development of an Interfaith Recovery Coalition. This meeting was facilitated and supported by the Robertson County Health Council. (Read more about Recovery Coalitions here.)
The formation of a structured, regular meeting was agreed unanimously! Dr. Monty Burks, Director of Interfaith Programs at the TN Dept for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Steve Shates, Director of Project Lifeline Services for Mid-Cumberland attended the meeting along with:
- Lisa Osborne (SECURE Haven Homeless Shelter for Women)
- Joseph Hale (Hope Apostolic Church)
- Pam Taylor (Family Focused Solutions, Family and Children’s Services)
- Christina Link (Hope Apostolic Church)
- Robert Tyson (Robertson County Baptist Assoc.)
- David Evans (TN Baptist Mission Board)
- Rachael Mann (UT Extension Office)
- Alicia Sharpton (Beauty for Ashes – A Healing Place)
- Cleverly Easter (TMC and Beauty for Ashes – A Healing Place)
- Deshnell Corbin (Dept of Health and McGavock Chapel AME Church)
- Helen Buck (Robertson County Recovery Court)
- Chris Locke (Northcrest Medical Center)
- Ron Baptiste (Covenant Confirmers Church)
- Rebecca Macfarlane (Health Council Chair; Project AWARE RobCo)
We discussed the issues facing our friends, families and congregations in regards to substance abuse and addiction, and named our hopes for collaborating across denominational lines to minister to those dealing with these issues in Robertson County.
It was agreed that we need more resources that help build relationships and connections in our churches and throughout our community. Churches are an excellent place to build these things. Churches should be safe places where we include and welcome those in recovery or not yet in recovery. We also need physical safe spaces.
We need to understand what different churches are already doing so that we can address gaps and communicate better. This needs to be in writing so everyone knows what is available.
Education on addiction, how to prevent prescriptions from being used illegally, and what resources are available is needed. We must remember that recovery is more than “12 steps.” It requires education and support in life skills like getting employment, dealing with stress, etc.
We realized through our discussions that we may have many more resources than we know about. For example, there are recovery meetings almost every day in Springfield. We need a reference list of these. Our meeting was well attended. We know that this issue is affecting everyone who came personally in some way.
We agreed we were all willing to come out from under our denominational umbrella to help minister to those in recovery in our community.
ACTIONS:
- Name the group and get a website and Facebook group page set up (DONE!)
- Set up monthly meetings that rotate between congregations
- Promote this group at Pastor Ron’s event on Feb 18 (Recovery Sunday Service)
- Find leadership of the Coalition that has had success with recovery ministry
- Develop a list of Robertson County recovery meetings and their schedules
- Develop a Resource List of what churches are already doing to support recovery outside of “12-step” and similar programs
- Educate ourselves!
- Be a conduit to bring other pastors to the table – all attendees should invite one person to attend with them to the next meeting
- Consider displaying recovery and addiction information in foyers and discussing recovery openly during services
- Bring a list of recovery meetings or resources you know of in Robertson County to our March meeting
The next meeting will be arranged soon, and dates will be announced here once they are confirmed. Please visit our Doodle survey to help us determine the best date for our next meeting.
If you would like to attend future meetings of the Robertson County Interfaith Recovery Coalition (RCIRC), please email Rebecca Macfarlane at rmacfarlane@fcsnashville.org or call 615-212-9480.
All are welcome, and you do not need to be a pastor to help us move this important work forward!
