Resources
Spiritual Enrichment Program
The Spiritual Enrichment Program is made possible through the support of private donors and the Carson-Myre Charitable Foundation. Participation is voluntary for Merryman House clients.
The program exists to:
Anchor survivors in the Christian faith to strengthen their resiliency;
Serve the faith community by providing guidance on how to appropriately recognize and respond to domestic violence in the church;
And, to restore the relationship between survivors and their place of worship through innovative partnerships.
At the core of traumatic stress is often an inability of individuals to regulate their internal states or feel safe in the world around them. As such, congregational settings may induce fear, discomfort or shame. Likewise, practices such as prayer or quiet reflection may seem too vulnerable or difficult to try alone. Most of all, when people experience traumatic events, they often question their faith or God’s goodness and love. These crises of faith create critical opportunities for survivors to explore how to make sense of tragedy and discover the peace that passes their deepest understanding. The Spiritual Enrichment Program provides a safe place to ask questions, a firm foundation on which to grow, and conduit for connection with the greater faith community.
The MHDCC Spiritual Enrichment Team recognizes that just as we may serve survivors that would not immediately connect to a church for support, the Church will care for members that would never reach out to MHDCC for help. Our desire is to bridge the gap by offering specialized trainings to church leaders, teach leaders and members about how to identify and respond to abusive relationships, how to set a culture where disclosures of abuse are taken seriously, and how to support the work of the local churches in working with survivors within their congregations or communities.
The Nehemiah Project
When survivors of domestic violence don’t know where to turn or who to trust, they often turn to the church. Does your church know how to respond properly to them? As a professional interacting with survivors, do you know how to collaborate with the church to rebuild faith as a protective factor? The Merryman House Spiritual Enrichment Program invites you to The Nehemiah Project, held annually in April.
Past conference themes have been recognizing and responding to domestic violence basics, child abuse in the church and the effects of trauma, and judicial personnel-specific trainings. Watch out for our 2025 date and focus!
