Clergy Join War Against Battering

When Carmen Elliot was beaten up by her preacher husband, her pastor and family told her to pray harder, endure, make things work out.

So, when she finally left him, she struggled with the guilt of not following through on her marriage vows, not being there for better or for worse.

Eleven ministers heard her story Wednesday during the first domestic violence training seminar for clergy sponsored by the Westminster Police Department.

The six-hour seminar is part of an effort by the Police Department to aggressively combat domestic violence.

Since spiritual leaders can have such a strong impact on a community, officers said, it’s imperative they understand why women stay in violent relationships and how they can intervene before it’s too late.

“I think we are realizing that this is not only a problem outside of the church, but it is also within the church,” said Paul Kensey of the Westminster Bible Chapel. “I really think that churches need a more adequate understanding of domestic violence.”

The ministers heard stories from victims like Elliot, a battered women’s advocate, the prosecutor in charge of the district attorney’s family violence unit and a child welfare official.

Often, the ministers said, they deal with women like Elliot who have been advised to tolerate abuse. In many communities, domestic violence is not viewed as unacceptable, they said.

“People have come to me and said those things to me and it almost makes me cry,” said Bob Emerson of the Westminster Christian Assembly.

Traditionally, clergy have been hesitant to intervene, believing that what occurs in the home is a private matter, they said.

But Elliot said it would take the efforts of the entire community, including religious leaders, school officials, neighbors, family and the police to wipe out domestic violence.

“I watched adults in my neighborhood turn away while my mother was getting beat up by my father with a two-by-four,” said Elliot, tears welling up in her eyes. “Do you know how devastating that is to a child?”

The idea behind the seminar was to get all members of the community working to reverse that situation.

“With 11 ministers there, and if they each speak to their congregants, they can have tremendous impact,” said Westminster Police Chief James Cook. “These ministers are the link to the community. Just with this group we can probably affect 2,000 to 3,000 people.”

The seminar is part of a domestic violence program that began seven months ago with a $200,000 federal grant.

Like many other police departments around the nation trying to improve their domestic violence responses, Westminster police are coordinating their approach with prosecutors, social workers and battered women’s advocates.