wfn.org | Testimony In Pennsylvania Domestic Violence Hearing

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Email:  news@ncccusa.org  Web:  www.ncccusa.org
Contact: Wendy McDowell, NCC News, 212-870-2227

NCC8/3/99  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC FAMILY MINISTRIES DIRECTOR SUBMITS TESTIMONY TO
PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S TASK FORCE ON DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE

 WILKES-BARRE, Penn., Aug. 3 ---- The Rev. Dr. Joe
Leonard, Director of Family Ministries and Human Sexuality
for the National Council of Churches (NCC), is speaking
today to hearings on domestic violence held by the
Pennsylvania Attorney General's Family Violence Task Force.

 Rev. Leonard supports recommendations made by the
Religious Institutions Working Group of the Task Force, in
particular a recommendation that religious denominations
which already require pre-marital counseling include
sessions on family violence.  He includes a call for clergy
to be educated "to care for the specific pastoral issues
family violence raises."

 Rev. Leonard is a resident of Wayne, Pa.  At the NCC,
he staffs the Committee on Family Ministries and Human
Sexuality, which is a network of 21 denominations and 11
family serving organizations, including the Center for the
Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence.

 His testimony follows.

STATEMENT BY THE REV JOE H. LEONARD, ED.D
DIRECTOR OF FAMILY MINISTRIES AND HUMAN SEXUALITY
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN THE USA
August 3, 1999

I am Joe H. Leonard, director of the Office of Family
Ministries and Human Sexuality of the National Council of
Churches in the USA.  I staff the Council's Committee on
Family Ministries and Human Sexuality, which is a network of
21 denominations and 11 family serving organizations.
Prominent among the organizational members of the committee
is the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic
Violence, an interfaith educational organization dedicated
to helping religious communities confront, prevent and heal
family violence.  I sit on the Center's Binational Advisory
Committee.  I am also the author of Tough Talk:  Men
Confronting Men who Abuse, written for and published by the
Presbyterian Men's organization.  I have come to recognize
that as a heterosexual, white, male person I am given a
privileged status in this society simply because of my
sexual orientation, my skin color, and my gender, a status
that is maintained in part by violence against those who are
not straight, white, males.  I am glad that the Religious
Institutions Working Group of the Attorney General's Family
Violence Task Force is holding these hearings and seeking to
challenge the religious communities in our Commonwealth to
stand against the sexism that facilitates family violence.

I want to speak in support of recommendation three but
before I do I want to add a comment about the first two
recommendations:  I believe they could be strengthened  by
adding to them a call that clergy be educated to care for
the specific pastoral issues family violence raises,
especially for victims who are active members of faith
communities.  Issues such as "why did God allow this to
happen?" and "for what sin is this punishment?" and "how do
I fulfill my duty to be a submissive wife if I leave for a
shelter?" are the kinds of questions religious women may
well raise.  They deserve thoughtful, compassionate,
discerning and theologically grounded responses from their
pastors who have done their scriptural and theological
homework  (see the attached recommendations to the religious
community from "A Community Checklist:  Important Steps to
End Violence Against Women" published by the United States
Justice Department).

Turning to recommendation three, I support it for the
following reasons:
First, because male violence, abuse and controlling
behaviors are such widespread realities in dating and
premarital relationships, it is dangerous for clergy to omit
exploring the issues of power, control and conflict in the
relationships of couples who come to them for marriage
preparation.  Nearly all couples come to marriage
preparation with many taken -for-granted assumptions about
male privilege and patterns of male dominance, assumptions
and patterns that need to be challenged on scriptural and
theological grounds.

Second, this recommendation is crucial because addressing
violence, power and control issues in a couple relationship
by clergy is almost universally neglected.  Unfortunately,
these have not been among the issues that clergy include in
premarital counseling.  Few are trained to do so.  This
recommendation will help to change that dangerous reality.

Third, premarital counseling has a positive effect as
reported by couples in retrospective studies and there is a
movement underway among many clergy to strengthen their
practice in this area as a way to reduce the relatively high
incidence of divorce. So it is timely to focus a
recommendation on premarital counseling.

Finally, I believe the recommendation could be strengthened
by adding that if violence has occurred in a couple's
premarital relationship, the clergy must insist that the
individuals  deal with it before proceeding further with
marriage plans.  The pastoral role is always to ensure first
the safety of the abused and refer her to appropriate help
and to insist that the perpetrator seek professional
assistance to deal with his violent behavior.  Clergy can
then offer pastoral care to the abused and make clear to
abusive male partners that only after concrete work on their
part to change their behaviors and make reparation to their
victim is it morally and theologically appropriate to
continue with marriage plans.

Thank you for this opportunity to share my views with you.

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