4 minute read
Faith Communities
--Faith Community Interviewee for Community Readiness Assessment
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WHAT WE KNOW WORKS
Dallas residents have strong ties to their faith communities and are more likely than many other urban communities around the country to identify a strong faith affiliation. Leaders in these faith traditions—particularly Evangelical Protestant, Mainline Protestant, and Catholic denominations— have the potential to reach significant proportions of their congregations in teen pregnancy prevention. Each church or other faith community must decide for itself whether or how to become involved, but the potential is there for greater pastoral and lay leadership in the prevention of teen pregnancy. This can occur when supporting caregivers and parents to address difficult issues, and by training their own youth leaders and staff to address issues surrounding sex.
WHERE WE ARE
Faith community leaders have been surveyed twice by Ntarupt, first for a Texas Woman’s University study completed in 2017 and then interviewed for a Community Readiness Assessment completed by Ntarupt in 2019. It is an understatement to say that Religious leadership has a big influence in the community. This is seen by some to hinder teen pregnancy prevention efforts, while Ntarupt sees the potential for them to step up and become leaders on this issue. They are recognized as powerful institutions that can make or break initiatives like teen pregnancy prevention efforts.
The needs assessment completed by Texas Woman’s University for Ntarupt in 2016 gathered data from interviews with Dallas’s faith community leaders. These leaders felt that churches or other religious organizations play an important but limited role in teen pregnancy prevention. The Community Readiness Assessment, likewise, identified faith community participation as a pivotal part of addressing teen pregnancy.
96% of religious leaders “strongly agreed” that their community needed more efforts to prevent teen pregnancy 82% of religious leaders said that they/religious groups should be doing more to help prevent teen pregnancy Leaders cited a lack of educational materials and the education needed to use them as obstacles to conducting sexual education in a church setting Religious leaders were most likely to cite a “lack of career and educational goals” as the biggest risk for unintended pregnancy A full 73% of religious leaders said they were “very comfortable” discussing healthy relationships with teens
WHERE WE ARE GOING & NECESSARY PARTNERS
Many faith communities have health fairs or other community events to which Ntarupt, partners, or parent ambassadors could be invited. Faith community leaders who become part of the leadership team can help identify ways for information about teen pregnancy prevention to be presented at its events, be it through information tables or more formal presentations. Materials for parents can also be distributed through family ministries or outreach efforts, particularly in communities where there is already a high level of teen pregnancy. Working with the faith community is slow and requires particular development of trust. Ntarupt has worked to get churches in the high teen birth rate areas of Dallas on board to talk about the issue or to attend meetings about it. Those areas are the same areas that suffer a variety of economic, educational and health care inequities, all of which impact teen pregnancy. Below are the steps we have taken toward this work and the creation of a Faith Coalition to advance this work from a faith perspective.
History of Ntarupt efforts: » Nov. ’18 had meeting with faith leaders and United the Church/focus group » Individual meetings with pastors over five years » Jan ’19 held follow up meeting with Unite the Church » March ‘19, Ntarupt conducted a faith leaders meeting at First United Methodist Church, over 20 ecumenical organizations in attendance » May ’19 Ntarupt co-sponsored a Prayer Rally in Pleasant Grove with the Pleasant Grove Ministerial Alliance » May ’19 Ntarupt CEO was guest on Podcast conducted by Rev. George Mason, founder of Faith Commons – Good God » Oct. ’19 conducted faith meeting at Cliff Temple » Feb. ’20 individual outreach planning meeting with 6 clergy in attendance
We have learned that this type of effort and leadership takes sustained and dedicated effort. This last meeting, the faith leaders convened by Ntarupt decided to do embark on individual outreach to churches, and will soon approach several churches where inroads may be made.
Faith Coalition goals: » Create a page on the Ntarupt website (or a separate website) for faith-created and centered resources » Create resources requested by the faith community » Ntarupt will develop and share sexual health information produced in response for distribution » Offer parent education support » Offer faith-directed reproductive health education for teens » Have faith groups share resources they have already created
To continue this work with maximum impact, Ntarupt will need personnel dedicated to moving the work along. Building relationships in the community is important, impactful, and takes time.
Partner
Individual Ecumenical Institutions
First Unitarian Church of Dallas and First United Methodist Church
Faith Commons Faith Forward Unite the Church Primary Role
Participate to help direct creation of reproductive health resources Partner with Ntarupt to deliver parent education Partner with Ntarupt to train ecumenical staff members working with parents and teens on reproductive health issues Partner with Ntarupt to create education for youth
Provide faith-based curriculum Our Whole Lives, and Created by God to interested ecumenical organizations and community members Advocate for comprehensive sex education throughout City and State
Assist in outreach Assist in production of faith informed materials
Secondary Role
Acknowledge teen pregnancy prevention as a key community issue
Assist in outreach to other faith institutions
Identify individual communities for partnerships and collaborations
