Charis: Supporting Marriage Relationships

Nov 13, 2018 | UA News

How do you nurture marriage relationships at your church or organization?
 
As they tackled this question in a recent Charis quarterly meeting on October 25, representatives from 22 local churches and parachurch organizations were provided with tools and resources from Urban Alliance to help the people they serve strengthen their marriage relationships, prevent future challenges, facilitate healing and reconciliation, and safely address abusive relationships.
 
As part of the collective discussion, Pastor Frank Termine shared how Calvary Church of West Hartford supports healthy marriage relationships across all ages and life stages, and Randy Tapp shared about Victory Church‘s Soul Care Ministry, which provides counseling, support groups and domestic violence prevention training.
 
For more information about Charis, click below or contact Angela Colantonio, Urban Alliance’s Director of Implementation, Health & Basic Needs Initiatives.
 
 

The staff at Urban Alliance are familiar with Pastor Frank because he is a regular attendee to many of the trainings Urban Alliance provides on subjects like domestic violence, addressing childhood trauma, and better counseling techniques. โ€œThatโ€™s been so valuable to me to be able to bring that back, not only in my counseling but also in my teaching and preaching ministries, โ€œ shared Termine.

Pastor Frank was also one of the original members of the Micah group, a group of pastors that meets at Urban Alliance to discuss and strategize about challenging issues that face the church today. One of those earlier discussions on justice, incarceration, and returning citizens was particularly memorable. โ€œWe all lamented the fact that these men and women were coming out of prison into our churches and just kind of being thrown there,โ€ said Termine, โ€œWe could do better than this.โ€ That discussion planted the seeds that eventually led to the creation of Second Chance Churches – an opportunity for churches to provide support and mentoring to returning citizens that continues today.

When we asked Pastor Frank what he would say to another church that was unaware of Urban Alliance, he said, โ€œIf you are looking to get out in the community and make a difference in the community, Urban Alliance is a super way to do it. Weโ€™re a small church โ€ฆ we canโ€™t do everything. Urban Alliance is a pathway to get our people involved in ministries that are already doing it, doing it well, and just need extra volunteers.โ€

Pastor Frank Termineโ€™s story embodies many things we are trying to accomplish at Urban Alliance: supporting organizations in the communities they serve with training, resources, and opportunities to make a difference. Pastors and non-profit leaders face a wide range of challenges and, therefore, need a wide range of help and resources. Your support can help turn stories of struggle into stories like you find at Calvary Church.

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