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• Healing Waters introduction
• Healing Waters Flyer / Order Form
  (PDF: 213K)

Healing Waters

Churches Working To End Violence Against Women

On this page, WICC is offering excerpts of Healing Waters in downloadable format. We encourage you to purchase the complete resource, which is available from WICC for $20 including shipping: click here for more information.

Note: these excerpts are provided in Microsoft Word format; for other formats, please contact the WICC office.

Where are we going?

(excerpt from the Introduction)

Choosing life can mean coming face to face with the forces of death. People who work to end violence against women sometimes have hostility directed against them. People who intervene in situations of violence are at risk of violence themselves.  The pain of working to end violence against women is endured for the greater good of seeing changes in people's lives. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, there is resurrection. Sometimes it's not a resurrection that we see for ourselves, but something that we trust will happen with God's help.

The apostles and people in the early church also followed in the footsteps of Jesus. They tried to create communities based on the teachings that Jesus.  The writer of the letter to the Ephesians urges his readers to be imitators of God and to live lives of love. He talks about Christ uniting very diverse people, and "dividing walls of hostility" being broken. The writer of Galations proclaims that, "…for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28)

Like the early church, Christian communities today try to follow the teachings of Jesus. We try to create communities that are safe spaces, where violence is not tolerated. Through works of justice and healing, we try to break down dividing walls of hostility between male and female, races and cultures. We are concerned about violence, whether it happens in a white middle-class suburb, in a house on a reserve, in the inner city home of someone who is a refugee, or in a rural farmhouse. Being one in Christ Jesus means that we hold each other accountable for how we live our lives. It means we can work together, confident that we share some similar goals.

As you work through this handbook, join together with others in your community, Christians, and other people of goodwill, who are working together to end violence. We may not see the fruit of our labour, but we can work confidently knowing that we are helping those people we meet, and that slowly, incrementally and in utterly amazing ways, God is working for justice and love in this world.

Download: "Table of Contents"

Where have we been?

We live in a society where violence against women still exists, despite the efforts of generations of people who have worked to end it. Violence against women is insidious and deeply rooted in our cultures, our institutions and our religions. We gain insight into the present from looking at the past.

Download: "Churches: Part of the Problem, Part of the Solution"

Where are we now?

Violence pervades many human relationships. This is a fact. People do degrade, murder, rob, rape and oppress each other. The relationships between people of different skin colour, religion, culture, nationality, and class have all been marked by violence.

Download: "Defining Violence"

One of the most frequently asked questions of women who live in violent relationships is “Why don’t you leave?” By examining the diversity in the population of Canadian women who have suffered violence, the following section suggests some answers to this question.

Download: "Why Can’t She Leave?"

Moving Forward

Many women who are abused try to let people know what is happening. They may not come out and say the words, but they may drop hints that all is not well.

Download: "Responding to a Suspected Survivor of Abuse"

Survivors of abuse have found the world to be an unsafe place. Part of the process of healing involves finding safe spaces where they can share their story and find a community that can foster their healing.

Download: "Creating safe spaces in the church"

As churches work to become safe communities for survivors of abuse, it is vitally important to make sure that the church building, its programs and its workers are safe for vulnerable people.

Download: "Policies for Safety"

Faith Seeking Understanding

People who are working to end violence against women need resources from their tradition to sustain them. Our knowledge about God, the way we see God working in the world, and the way we hear God calling us gives us strength for the journey.

Download: "Theological Themes: Suffering"

Leading the Way: Strategies for Change

There are many ways to work at ending violence against women! The Healing Waters handbook approaches this task primarily through the context of education in the church setting. How do we reach out to women in the church who are survivors of violence, or are still experiencing violence? How do we encourage people in the church to become aware of issues of male violence against women? How do we motivate people to create communities that are safe places for all people?

There are many avenues in the church for this task. Here are some to get you started.

Download: "Planning a worship service"

Hold a workshop or study session – a variety of workshop modules are available in the resource handbook along with exercises, reflections, worship materials, and educational tools for workshops of different lengths.

Download: "Planning a Bible study"

Download: "Bible Study: The Story of Hagar"

Download: "Bible Study: The Story of Jephthah’s Daughter"

Download: "Bible Study: The Story of Tamar"

Download: "Bible Study: The Story of the Unnamed Woman"

Order your copy of Healing Waters today. (PDF: 213K)

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