Home is Where the Hurt is

While training for ordination I spent a few hours each week answering calls to the Women's Aid helpline.

I count the experience alongside those which have been most life-changing, like spending three weeks in an African country, or four years in inner-city Liverpool.

A college project turned into a Grove booklet, Home is Where the Hurt is: domestic violence and the Church's response, which is now sadly out of print. However, you can download the full text here. The text is as written in 1994, but contact details at the end have been updated.

More recently I contributed to a debate at the Church of England 's General Synod in 2004, which resulted in the publication of Responding to domestic abuse, guidelines for church leaders (CHP, 2006). This includes information about domestic violence, theological reflections, and guidelines on how to help those suffering from abuse.