About the DivorceCare Organization: A Strategic Approach to Divorce Ministry
With increasing frequency, the issues of divorce are coming to America’s churches. Few churches remain unaffected:
Marriages within the church are breaking up, leaving a trail of hurting families and congregations that struggle to find the right response.
People hurting from divorce or separation are showing up at churches, looking for help and healing from the pain they feel. It may be the first time they’ve set foot in a church, or they may be returning after a long time away.
Response from churches varies widely, from rejection of those involved in divorce to effective programs that help in healing and recovery. Often, churches with a desire to develop a ministry in this area have difficulty doing so because of the complexity in starting and maintaining such an endeavor. It is for such churches that the DivorceCare program was developed.
The DivorceCare Solution
DivorceCare is a program designed to equip your church to conduct ongoing ministry to separated and divorced people. The DivorceCare program features emphasis on a biblical approach to divorce, separation and related issues such as reconciliation, remarriage, forgiveness and the effect of divorce on children and families. DivorceCare emphasizes that real healing from the intense pain of divorce must begin with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
The DivorceCare program features three key elements:
- Training of church divorce recovery leaders and facilitators
- Video and print teaching materials to address divorce issues in a biblical context
- Support group strategies to facilitate an ongoing ministry to divorced and separated people
The program is designed to be easy to implement, easy to use. DivorceCare is structured as a weekly two-hour session that combines teaching and small group discussion. Materials can be used by as few as five people meeting in a home or a larger group meeting in the church building.
The DivorceCare program solves a number of problems inherent in conducting a successful divorce recovery ministry:
Teaching
It’s often difficult to find a teacher knowledgeable in the areas of separation, divorce and recovery. Pastors and staff are likely to be too busy to be able to invest the necessary time to prepare teaching on a weekly basis, and lay teachers with this expertise are rare. Great care must be taken in blending biblical instruction with practical guidance to create a program that sensitively meets the needs of people who come to the church for help.
DivorceCare solves this problem by bringing together some of the foremost experts on divorce issues in a series of video seminars that take program participants through a carefully designed curriculum addressing their emotional, spiritual and practical needs. These video programs, averaging 35 minutes in length, combine solid teaching with interviews and case studies to produce an interesting and compelling television program.
The videos are supported by an interactive workbook for each program participant.
Format
For a divorce recovery ministry to be effective, it must be an ongoing program. There must be a place where a divorced or separated person can get help right away when he or she turns to the church. Separated and divorced people then need sustained support and guidance over a period of months as they work through the issues, pain and pressures surrounding them.
The weekly DivorceCare groups are designed to become an oasis for these people, a place where they can gain knowledge during the teaching time and where they can share their feelings with others who are also experiencing separation and divorce.
The weekly format is preferable to occasional weekend seminars because it allows this ongoing support structure for divorced and separated people.
Staffing
Recruiting and maintaining a qualified leadership team is one of the major challenges of an effective divorce recovery ministry. It is especially difficult to find a person qualified to teach on the issues of divorce and separation.
DivorceCare solves this problem by providing the teaching segments on video. These high quality video seminars on DVD feature experts with credibility and experience in ministry to divorced and separated people.
Each church supplies facilitators, people with a burden for ministry in this area. It is typically much easier to recruit qualified facilitators if teaching is not part of the job requirement. As the program matures in a church, program participants who exhibit substantial growth and healing will be able to assume facilitator roles, creating a self-perpetuating ministry.
Training
DivorceCare provides each church with an extensive Leader’s Guide, containing detailed information on how to establish a divorce ministry, recruit leadership, promote the ministry and effectively coordinate the logistics of an ongoing ministry.
DivorceCare also provides each church with a special leader-equipping DVD called Making DivorceCare Work, designed to be used to train group facilitators and other local leadership.
Promotion
DivorceCare has produced a complete package of promotional materials for churches to use in publicizing the program in their communities.
About the DivorceCare Ministry
DivorceCare is a ministry of Church Initiative, a church-equipping ministry based in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Church Initiative is a nondenominational, nonprofit, tax-exempt ministry organization. In addition to DivorceCare, Church Initiative offers:
- Before You Divorce, a marriage crisis counseling tool
- DivorceCare for Kids, a divorce recovery program for children
- GriefShare, grief recovery support groups
- Chance to Change, gambling addiction recovery groups
- Facing Forever, an evangelism and discipleship resource
Church Initiative
PO Box 1739
Wake Forest, NC 27588
800-489-7778
919-562-2112
www.churchinitiative.org
