I am a dual-degree graduate student at Baylor University, an institution with R-1 research status. I will graduate this May with Master degrees in both Divinity and Social Work. I was recently ordained by my church, Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, TX. I have a passion for how faith integrates with practice, largely because of my own personal experience. I am a survivor of over two decades of every form of abuse you can imagine, which profoundly battered both body and soul. It was my unending faith that carried me through those difficult years when I was so isolated and alone. But it was friends, and not the church, who provided help when I needed it most. I am deeply concerned with how the church responds to abuse and helps victims recover from its devastating effects because I know many other victims who speak of being blamed for their abuse and shunned by their churches. My internship with the Center for Church and Community Impact (C3I) at the Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University is part of their work to strengthen congregations as they engage with their communities. My work involves churches and the topic of domestic violence, and part of that is doing research on how clergy and congregational leaders define domestic violence, what training they may have received, and how comfortable they are with providing assistance to victims of abuse.
According to statistics at the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, more than one in four women, and one in seven men are affected by domestic violence. Every year more than 10 million individuals are abused. That is one every 20 minutes. Each day more than 20,000 calls are placed to domestic violence hotlines. According to a fact sheet at Futures Without Violence, more than 15 million children had been exposed to at least one episode of domestic violence in the previous year. Domestic violence has a profound and widespread impact on families in our country and lifelong destructive consequences on those who are victimized. Clergy and congregations can help support victims of domestic violence but according to this study, many clergy members indicated that they felt inadequately prepared to speak to congregants about abuse. The results of my current research will provide insight that will help churches improve their response to abuse. Victims often first seek help from their faith communities, so it would be prudent for faith communities to be well prepared to assist.
I ask you now to please participate in taking a survey that I created as a part of my internship. The survey is for anyone who has ever been involved in church leadership – whether in a staff position or as lay leadership – or who is in seminary and planning to do church leadership in the future. Your participation in this survey is voluntary and confidential (no identifying responses will be collected), and it will only take about 15 minutes of your time. There are no foreseeable risks to taking this survey. If you have any further questions, concerns, or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my internship agency at C3I@baylor.edu. If you would like to speak to me about this research project, you can contact me at Geneece_Goertzen1@baylor.edu. Thank you, and God bless!
Survey link: https://baylor.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9nvLP9QMqUvLwDI
Geneece Goertzen is a student who will graduate with her MDiv and MSW from Baylor University in May 2022.