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	Crime Victim Advocates Host 5th Annual Seminar on Faith Leaders and Justice By Dana Clark Felty Savannah Morning News September 5, 2009 http://savannahnow.com/node/778314 DAVID BROWN revealed to a Catholic official in 1996 that he had been raped 35 years earlier by a priest. Brown wanted the church to take out an advertisement in the newspaper calling on other victims to come forward. The official said "no." "He told me that people had dealt with their skeletons differently, that there was no need to stir them up," Brown said. "But he also told me earlier that I was the only one they knew of." On the drive back to Memphis from the Nashville clergyman's office, Brown pulled over and called his wife. "I said, 'I don't think I'm going to come home,'" he said. "I was going to kill myself." Today, Brown hopes religious leaders can learn from his story. The Tennessee activist will be among the speakers at the upcoming seminar for faith leaders sponsored by The Savannah-Chatham Family Violence Council, which includes the Chatham County Victim-Witness Assistance Program, the Chatham County District Attorney's office, local nonprofits and social service agencies. Now in its fifth year, the seminar offers advice and anecdotes from crime victims and local and national experts on how faith communities can best respond to violent crime within their ranks. Their hope is to help clergy understand the gravity of their role often as the most trusted resource both for victims and perpetrators. "We know that when someone has a crisis, that person is often going to turn to their faith community first," said Helen Bradley, director of Chatham County Victim-Witness Assistance. "That person may not call a government agency or a nonprofit organization, but will go to their pastor or rabbi or Sunday school teacher." The featured speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, a Seattle-based United Church of Christ minister. Fortune is the founder of the FaithTrust Institute an international organization working to end sexual and domestic violence across the spectrum of the world's major religions. She serves on the U.S. Defense Department's Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence and is editor of the Journal on Religion and Abuse. Fortune said many leaders struggle to create an environment that encourages members to open up about abuse or violence in their families, especially within religious denominations that preach that women are subservience to men. The seminar will also include sessions on how leaders can avoid liability and protect church assets. "We've had a lot of interest from clergy in the past about those specific issues, particularly related to child abuse," Bradley said. "That's going to be very practical and valuable information that every faith leader needs to know." Some of the most powerful take-aways of the half-day seminar are the stories shared by victims, Bradley said. One of the stories this year will come from Brown, a local business person who survived domestic violence and from Pamela Abraham, a Savannah woman whose son was murdered in 2004. In a 2008 film by a Nashville-based crime advocacy group, Brown and other advocates described the permanent spiritual scares that can come from neglect by religious leaders. "The church always pushes for forgiveness and reconciliation and their definition of that tending to be, 'Let's forget about it,'" said a female incest survivor identified only as "Shana." "I lost a lot of faith in the church as an organization. I lost a lot of faith in people, because of that." Brown left the Catholic Church but didn't give up on religion. "In 1996, when all this came back to me, I had a very strong faith, a very strong relationship with the Lord," he said. "I think that's helped sustain me through this, to help me make some sense as to what happened to me, why it happened to me and in dealing with it in the future. "I want to create an environment where a victim will feel comfortable in coming forward to a church." If you go What: Fifth annual Faith Leaders Seminar hosted by the Savannah-Chatham Family Violence Council When: 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Sept. 17 Where: Coastal Georgia Center, 305 Fahm St. Participants include the Rev. Marie M. Fortune of the FaithTrust Institute; Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm; Atlanta attorney Ed Buckley; insurance agent James Wilson, victims of abuse, clergy, faith leaders and educators. Registration: The deadline to register is Thursday. Register at www.familyviolencecouncil.org or by calling 912-652-7329 and mailing a check or money order, payable to Family Violence Council, for $20 to: Family Violence Council P.O. Box 11163 Savannah, GA 31412
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