Greetings in the name of Christ!

On behalf of our various conference ministries, we write on the occasion of Domestic Violence

Awareness Month which is observed every October. The United Methodist Church takes seriously our role in domestic violence prevention and awareness, yet we realize the silence which often surrounds these tragic situations tearing apart families and communities.

Below is an important toolkit produced by the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women and inspired by the #MeToo movement. The toolkit provides worship helps, a listing of related resources, information from the Council of Bishops as well as a handout on the UMC Sexual Ethics website.

In addition to the enclosed toolkit, the General Commission on the United Methodist Men partnered with the YWCA of Middle Tennessee to create Amending through Faith, a book guiding participants through eight, 90-minutes training sessions designed to help men understand how common statements and actions result in one in four women in the US becoming victims of domestic violence and 5 million children in the US, or one in fifteen witnessing abuse in their homes each year. Each session is biblically based. You can gather more information, view a 3 minutes video or order the study at their website http://www.gcumm.org/gender-based-violence.