United Methodist Women Hosts Domestic Violence Event

Saturday, August 23rd. Hope for Healing.Org had a booth at the Legislative Action Day event hosted by the United Methodist Women of the Holston Conference. This first-ever event was held at Church Street United Methodist in Knoxville, TN.

People came from all over the Holston Conference. And, they kept coming. After adding all the chairs they could and squeezing in tables, 50 people had to be turned away from the door who did not pre-register.

We talked with people from Sand Mountain, Alabama, Scott County, Virginia, Knoxville , Tennessee and everywhere in between. Attendees came for one reason and one reason only - to learn how to help victims of domestic violence in their communities.

And they were not disappointed.

Speakers included David Kitts, a domestic violence trainer from the Knoxville Police Dept. He did an excellent job in making the subject material relevant. Deborah Yeomans of Legal Aid of East Tennessee brought up an excellent point when she spoke. She reminds us that society often asks the wrong question. Instead of asking "why doesn't the victim leave" she encouraged us to ask "why does the abuser batter"?


During lunch, Senator Tim Burchett spoke about the stalking bill he has introduced in the Tennessee state legislature. (Be looking for more to come on this.)

Other speakers included:

Jo Terry, Director of AMA Association Alliance, Member of
AMA Advisory Council on Family Violence
Nancy Sentell, Director of Elder Services, Covenant Health —
Elder Abuse on the problem of Elder Abuse.
Kathy Hatfield, Director of Child and Family Services on Child Abuse
Rev. Patricia A. Clendenen brought our closing worship.
Hope for Healing.Org had a booth as did a few other organizations. Several people stopped by to pick up information or to sign up for our mailing list. Others stopped to peruse the notecards made by our volunteers and Hope Youth. Just about everyone took a moment to view the Hope Quilt. You could read the impact on their faces as people stopped to read the messages from survivors.

For too long domestic violence has been ignored by the church. I am encouraged that the women of the United Methodist Church could sponsor such an event. It gives me hope for the victims of now and for victims of the future that they will be able to find healing.

I already look forward to more events of this type to be sponsored by the church. How about you?