Creating Caring Communities and Practices of Caring

The creation of community is a key pastoral task. The pastor nurtures the attitudes and commitments by congregants that make possible the development of programs of mutual support. Some congregations are developing specific programs focused on addiction to and dependence on alcohol and drugs. Faith Partners in Austin, Texas, is one example of a program doing just that. Moreover, using a lay “congregational team” approach, it is expanding the concept nationwide. One participant noted that, while the core competencies need to be implemented across cultures and denominations, each faith community also should develop and initiate its own particular implementation strategies, attuned to local needs and circumstances.

Participants pointed out that, to be successful, pastors need to be attuned to their congregations. They need to know how the social networks operate: how strong the families are, what extended family resources exist, and how the different ages interact. With that knowledge, clergy can build on these natural social resources to bring support to persons with alcohol and drug dependence and their families.

The Clergy’s Prophetic Role

Members of the clergy lead their congregations by preaching and teaching. They can use sermons, classes for youth and adults, newsletter articles, and similar activities to help their congregants understand the basic mechanisms of drug dependence and addic- tion, and to influence attitudes toward the problem and the individuals and families that experience its effects.

Because the boundaries between the faith community and the surrounding civic community are not impermeable, this educational process is able to move outward, beyond the individual congregation. Members of the clergy often have the opportunity to take part directly in community affairs and have the capacity to reach and educate decision makers on the topics of alcoholism and drug use. In addition, they can work indirectly through the members of their congregation to change the norms of com- munities in which they live and work.

However, as several participants pointed out, this contextual/communal vision of the church as a voice and change-agent within the larger community is new and is not a reality in all places. Some faith communities remain insular, reactive to outside events rather than proactive and engaged in the experience of the larger lay community in which the congregation exists. Clergy and other pastoral ministers may need to proceed gently as they introduce their congre- gations to the idea of taking on a more public, community-focused role.

The Clergy’s Base of Knowledge and Skills

Participants sought to summarize the knowl- edge and skills clergy and other pastoral ministers need to integrate work on alcohol and drug dependence and its impact on families into each of these roles. They recognized that, ordinarily, a member of the clergy whose job is to shepherd a congrega- tion would not be an expert in addiction treatment. However, participants agreed that such an individual definitely should be expected to know basic facts about alcohol and drug dependence, and have a solid understanding of how these problems affect the individual, family members, and their faith community. Clergy and pastoral minis- ters also should be cognizant of available resources for treatment and recovery both within the congregation and the larger community; they should be able to connect people with needed services and treatment resources.

Participants suggested that, in addition to understanding the neurological mechanisms of alcohol and drug dependence, clergy and other pastoral ministers also should under- stand the behavioral manifestations of substance use, abuse and dependence. In that way, they can be alert to observable signs of substance dependence, enabling them to help identify and respond to the problem when it surfaces in the congregation. They should know how alcohol and drugs affect cognitive functioning and how it can exacer- bate already present problem behaviors – including emotional disturbances in youth and mental illnesses in adults.

They should be aware of the purpose alcohol or drugs may have in the life of a dependent individual. For some, substance use may have begun in an effort to get temporary relief from anxiety; for others it might be used to “self-medicate” psychic and spiritual pain; for others it might be perceived as easing social situations. Yet, for all of them, alcohol or drug dependence actually causes greater pain not only for the individual, but also for the family over the long term.

Clergy and other pastoral ministers also should be aware of the process of with- drawal from alcohol or drugs, what typically occurs during withdrawal; and they should be equipped with knowledge about typical patterns of relapse and recovery, including the distinction between initial abstinence and recovery. They can better help their congregants by developing a clear apprecia- tion of why addiction can be so difficult to overcome.

Knowledge is equally critical about the various environmental harms caused by addiction, including the suffering it inflicts in the home on spouses and children and the difficulties it creates in the workplace. A working knowledge of the history of alcohol- ism and drug dependence, and of the churches’ historical reactions to the problem, would also be useful. Clergy need to know how their own denominations and immedi- ate congregation manage it – for better or for worse – and need to know the position of their superiors.

One participant suggested that religious leaders need to be able to articulate their “theological anthropology;” that is, to explain in religious terms, the negative effects that addictions have on spirituality. They also need to be able to draw upon the texts and liturgical practices of their faith to articulate these insights.

Other panelists suggested that clergy should be able to understand how alcoholism and drug dependence actually are experienced by the individual, and how this experience is mirrored in family members. It seemed particularly important to try to understand the individual’s and family member’s state of mind that includes confusion about the addiction itself, conflicts of values, faulty memory, a vast array of uncomfortable feelings, and a set of counterproductive coping tactics or survival strategies; in summary, a general state of being increasingly out of touch with reality.

Last, one participant offered a set of inter- vention action steps that would demonstrate mastery of the core competencies. With training to work with their congregants and families struggling with alcohol or drug dependence, clergy and other pastoral ministers would:

• Show up. They would be alert to “windows of opportunity” for contact, assessment, intervention and treatment.
• Be dressed. They would be “prepared internally” with necessary information, resources, and teaching tools.
• Get through the door. They would know how to establish effective healing relationships with those affected by addiction.
• Stay in the boat. They would do more than hand people off to treatment; they would establish therapeutic alliances with professionals, congregational caregivers, and the affected individuals and their families.
• Know when to leave. They would respect appropriate boundaries and know when to bring their involvement to a conclusion.

It was suggested that these five steps could serve as a preamble to the twelve core com- petencies identified and delineated by the meeting participants, or alternatively as an educational tool to illustrate their application.

The Importance of Self-Reflection

The Importance of Twelve-Step Programs