Acknowledgments

This on-line curriculum for seminary-based education had its beginnings in a print curriculum developed under the direction of leading seminary professors and academic deans across denominations. It is the final major product of a ten-year effort to develop and distribute tools based on the Core Competencies for Clergy and Other Pastoral Ministers In Addressing Alcohol and Drug Dependence and the Impact on Family Members. It is part of The Clergy Education and Training Project® of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA).

The project has been partially funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Subsequent support from the Hanley Family Foundation, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia made possible the adaptation and expansion of the curriculum with related electronic media and to move it to web access, allowing seminary professors to use either or both mediums. Printing and distribution funds have been provided by Guest House, Inc. of Rochester, MN and Lake Orion, MI so that all North American seminaries will receive these curriculum materials. All assistance is gratefully acknowledged.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and content of this website are those of the author and NACoA and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the funding sources.

Author: Rev. Robert Albers, Ph.D., has worked both in academia and parish ministry for four decades specializing in the area of addiction. He has a Ph.D. in pastoral theology from the Southern California School of Theology with an emphasis in the area of addiction and did all of his clinical work in treatment centers. For seven years, Dr. Albers served as the editor of the Journal of Ministry in Addiction and Recovery published by Haworth Press. He has contributed chapters to various books on addiction, and has conducted seminars and workshops in a wide variety of contexts in the U.S. and abroad. Most recently, he co-authored Ministry With Mentally Ill Persons and With Their Families. (Fortress Press, January, 2012.)

Expert Panel and Field Reviewers: Special thanks go to the panel of experts who provided guidance in the development of this curriculum and to the members of The Clergy Education and Training Project® field reviewers who reviewed the document. (A listing of these contributors can be found under Expert Panel, Field Reviewers, on the Curriculum Home Page.) They provided critical insights and feedback on the curriculum.

 

Preface

Dear Educator,

If a deadly contagious disease left a wake of death and destruction comparable to that of addiction, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal government and every social agency in this nation would immediately make this illness a number one priority! Yet, unfortunately, this is not the case for alcoholism and drug dependence. Social denial adds to the conspiracy of silence; the stigma and subsequent disgrace shame associated with this illness keep it securely under wraps. Addiction touches every household as millions suffer either as those afflicted with or affected by addiction.

Many people affiliated with a religious community will first seek out a faith leader in her or his religious community when a crisis occurs. Clergy and lay leaders are invested with the trust of the members in their respective faith communities. Despite the higher profile that addiction issues have had in recent years, most clergy and lay leaders are still ill prepared to recognize and deal with the spiritual, health and family concerns occasioned by addiction.

This reality is what prompted the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA), in collaboration with the Johnson Institute (JI), to convene a panel of inter-religious pastoral theologians and lay addiction experts to work proactively on this issue and develop a list of core competencies that every person entering ordained or lay ministry should acquire. The core competencies form the basis for multiple clergy education projects developed by The Clergy Education and Training Project® (CETP), including this curriculum for use in seminaries. These efforts have been partially funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA)'s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) who published the Core Competencies for Clergy and Other Pastoral Ministers in Addressing Alcohol and Drug Dependence and the Impact on Family Members (Core Competencies) in 2004. Additional funding to further the work of the project was received from The Hanley Family Foundation, Inc. and Guest House, Inc.

The development of this project dates back to 2001 when the CETP gathered a group of experts in seminary education and the field of addiction, to discuss this critical issue and strategize the most judicious way in which to address the problem of addiction, with particular attention given to the impact addiction has upon families and children who are growing up in that environment. A subsequent meeting was held in February of 2003 to develop the Core Competencies and then to outline what educational strategies and training/curricula tools are needed for educating clergy and other pastoral ministers serving religious communities. Those proceedings and a report on the development of the Core Competencies, are available from the CETP at the National Association for Children of Alcoholics, 10920 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 100, Kensington, MD 20895. Another group of experts was convened on November 29, 2005, to formulate more precisely the approach to the actual writing of this curriculum.

It is our conviction that those who teach in the area of care and counseling will want to familiarize students about alcohol and drug addiction which plague societies around the world. It is not a matter of "if" students will encounter addiction and its concomitant effects in the course of their ministry, it is a matter of "when!" We are delighted that you will make this a priority in your teaching, devoting as much time as is possible for you to familiarize your students with this critical concern.

Sincerely,

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Rev. Robert Albers, Ph.D.