VOICE OF THE CHURCH/

Religious leaders MUST address the issue of domestic violence much the same as they address issues of stewardship. When this dangerous behavior is addressed from our pulpits, congregants will find safety in counsel which will lead to personal accountability. Personal accountability has as its natural effect, changed behavior.

Religious leaders MUST speak to the victims. It is crucial that a victim acknowledge the posture in which he or she finds himself or herself. It is only this honest assessment that will enable the victim to begin to change the behavior that allows the victimization to occur or to continue.

Religions leaders MUST address the batterers. A batterer does not act out of love for the victim, but instead out of a need to exert controlling behavior. The challenge for the preacher/teacher is to assist the batterer in acknowledging the specific patterns exhibited by them that put another person "under their feet". The batterer must be forced to acknowledge that he does not have a right to demand a particular pattern of behavior from another. Instead, the batterer must be made to acknowledge that he or she alone is capable of changing the abusive behavior that puts another at risk.

Religious leaders MUST address the bystanders. Bystanders run the risk of becoming victims. The emotional damage associated with witnessing abuse (from an adult perspective or from a child's perspective) carries with it a high probability of repetition or deception. Bystanders may be the victim's only advocate and must therefore be equipped with knowledge to respond appropriately.

The victim may feel as if she is too damaged to be loved by God The victim my feel as if her “sins” have caused God to abandon her. The message she MUST hear is that even in her struggle, God is there.