In 2008, the Lutheran Community Foundation was pleased to provide support for the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) Domestic Violence Taskforce through a grant from the LCF Field of Interest Fund for LCMS. The $30,000 grant will be used to support LCMS Synodical Resolution 6-06 to address the escalating problems of domestic violence and child abuse. The resolution assigns the Board for Human Care Ministries (BHCM) the responsibility of identifying the needs and developing materials for LCMS clergy and laypeople.
This grant demonstrates a recognition that domestic violence in the United States has reached epidemic proportions and that fully 31% of women have experienced physical assault from a partner and 40 % of teenage girls age 14-17 report know someone their age that has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend. Additionally, child abuse in this country has risen at an alarming rate with two-and-a-half million cases reported each year, and the actual incidence estimated at three times that amount.
"LCMS World Relief and Human Care appreciates the support...to provide the church with resources that are grounded in the Gospel to inform our professional church workers and laity of the magnitude of destruction that domestic violence and child abuse causes spiritually, emotionally, and physically; to assist them in providing responsible care for those who suffer as the result of domestic violence and child abuse; and to assure victims and perpetrators that support and care is available through the LCMS," stated Rev. John A. Fale, Associate Executive Director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care.
Over the next three years, the LCMS Domestic Violence Taskforce will create the materials and training resources necessary to address this growing concern within and outside the church. Additionally, they will collaborate and consult with other inter-Lutheran efforts currently addressing the topic. The BHCM has also been directed to work alongside the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) to examine these issues and comment specifically on the topics of forgiveness, repentance and reconciliation in the context of abusive situations.
Grants from the Foundation's LCMS Field of Interest Fund are made possible through the generous gifts of the Foundation's donors, who have chosen to provide a unified response through the Foundation.