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A UMNS Report
By the Rev. Boyce A. Bowdon*
2:00 P.M. ET August 13, 2012
More than a dozen former alcoholics and addicts carried signs telling
how it felt to be in recovery during a presentation at the 2012 Oklahoma
Annual Conference meeting in Tulsa. A UMNS web-only photo by Boyce
Bowdon.
In the late 1960s, an Oklahoma businessman went to his pastor desperate for help.
“My wife was an alcoholic,” said Jack Turner. “Nearly every week,
Vicky was drunk, sometimes for three days at a time. I was worried about
her and our three little boys — the oldest was just 8.”
Turner said he knew he needed to talk to someone who cared and could point him toward help.
“I had high respect for my pastor,” Turner added. “His sermons were
always helpful. I made an appointment, went to his office and told him
my situation. Right away, I could tell he didn’t know how to help me. I
left his office very disappointed.”
Since he could not find help at his church, Turner looked elsewhere.
His search led him to an upstairs room in an Oklahoma City business
district, where a 12-step group had its meetings.
“A couple of guys were sitting at a table drinking coffee,” Turner
remembered. “I told them I had a problem and needed help. They invited
me to sit down with them and gave me a cup of coffee. When I left those
guys, I had an AA packet in my hand and hope in my heart.”
Introduction to 12 steps
Jack Turner says God used his family’s experiences with alcoholism “to
lay out a trail for me to follow.” A UMNS photo by Boyce Bowdon.
View in Photo Gallery
Turner said his visit gave him what he needed to introduce his wife
to a 12-step program. She joined a group and, eventually, found
sobriety.
Relieved that his wife was in recovery, Turner did not forget the
trauma he and his family had experienced because of her addiction. He
also did not forget that many of his relatives and friends were
suffering because they could not stop drinking. He wanted to help them
and others.
“I knew Christ calls us to heal the sick, and I knew alcoholics are
sick. But I also knew that many churches didn't want alcoholics around,
and many ministers didn’t know how to help them,” Turner said.
“I had a passion for helping churches minister to alcoholics. I
believed God was giving me that passion. So I asked God to lay out a
trail for me to follow that would enable me to find opportunities for
training in chemical-dependency ministry that I could make available
for pastors and other church leaders.”
God laid out that trail, Turner said. The trail led Turner to
several outstanding training programs. One stood above the rest: Johnson Institute Summer School on Chemical Dependency in Minnesota.
Turner enrolled in the two-week intensive training and experiential
school designed to educate professionals in the diagnoses and treatment
of chemical dependency. He was pleased that medical doctors,
psychotherapists and other professionals, who were knowledgeable about
addictions and recognized the vital role spiritual care plays in
healing, led the school.
Scholarships to train pastors
In 1978, convinced that Oklahoma ministers could find valuable help
at Johnson Institute, Turner provided scholarships for 16 pastors to
attend the summer training.
The pastors came back eager to help chemically dependent people find
sobriety. Word got around. Numerous people — church members and others
— attended them and found support.
In 1982, several ministers who attended Johnson Institute led the Oklahoma Annual (regional) Conference in establishing the Summer School on Chemical Dependency,
based on the Johnson Institute model. Clergy from across Oklahoma
came, gained new insights and went back to their churches better
prepared to minister to alcoholics in their congregations and
communities.
“What those ministers began in 1982 was the beginning of our
Oklahoma Conference Summer School on Chemical Dependency,” said Annette
Harper, who directs the school. “This year, we are celebrating our 30th anniversary.”
Harper said the Summer School has gained international recognition
for its excellence in addiction awareness and education for clergy and
laity.
“Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina and several other conferences have
used our school as a model,” Harper said. “Several (United Methodist)
conferences in other countries have sent representatives to our school
and adapted it to meet their needs.”
Last year, two ministers from Norway attended the school. In April
2012, they led a regional chemical dependency training school modeled
after the one in Oklahoma. Twenty-five people attended. Participants
came from Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway.
Jack Turner — now semi-retired — said he is pleased to have been one
of the many persons who contributed to the Summer School's
development.
“God used my family's experiences,” he said, “to lay out a trail for
me to follow, and I'm so grateful it has led to our churches becoming
more effective agents of God’s healing.”
*Bowdon is a retired communicator for the Oklahoma Annual (regional) Conference and editor of the conference newspaper.
News media contact: Maggie Hillery, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or mailto:newsdesk@umcom.org.
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