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Apportionments Chemical Dependency Ministries

OKUMC Chemical Dependency Ministries Web site

Is there a family that has not been touched by chemical dependency-re­lated problems? How many lives have been lost-or ruined-by the effects of alcoholism or other chemical addictions? How many homes are fractured? How much property is destroyed in chemically related accidents? The problem is a continuing one, and the Oklahoma Conference has a ministry dedicated to providing information and guidance to individuals, churches and other organizations trying to combat this menace.

Central to the goal of this ministry is the annual Summer School on Chemical Dependency. It is an intensive, two­-week program designed to help pastors and others deal more effectively with the many facets ofthis problem. Basic to the approach of the Summer School are the understandings that chemical dependency is a disease rather than a moral failing and that "recovery" is a lengthy process that might begin with "discovery" in a treatment program. Key to recovery is the l2-Step Program within a supportive community.

Other goals of the Summer School include helping participants learn to recognize the symptoms of addiction, identify some of the common prob­lems attendant to the disease, and find help for the addict and the affected family members.

The Summer School has won the respect of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, which has granted funds to scholarship 20 people to attend.

Another program that has gained broad respect and participation is the Fatal Vision Goggles Prevention Program. Through the use of special goggles, participants can see the world through the eyes of one who is inebriated. This program has been presented at schools and universities as well as to youth and adult church groups.

The impact of this ministry is felt each year by more than 2,000 adults and 2,500 youth and children in more than 50 churches of several denomi­nations, and more than a dozen civic organizations and an equal number of schools and universities. Individuals and families who benefit from referral information and counsel are numerous, though not recorded.