Involving the Faith Community in Teen Pregnancy Prevention

INVOLVING THE KEY PLAYERS40Be concreteOnce on firm ground, programscan offer some concrete suggestionsabout what the faith communitymight do to help reduceteen pregnancy and how suchactivities would fit in with otherparts of the program. For example,in Nine Tips to Help FaithLeaders and Their CommunitiesAddress Teen Pregnancy, theNational Campaign to PreventTeen Pregnancy provides suggestionsand resources to faith communities(see Appendix at theend of the chapter). A faith communitywill not join in an activitythat conflicts with its beliefs andvalues, so programs should notrequire the church to supporteverything a prevention programdoes as a condition of partnership.However, a conflict in onearea may still mean that a faithcommunity can participate inother areas.Offering a list of work needed,resources required, and activitiesto be undertaken gives a faithcommunity the opportunity tochoose activities that suit itbest. Examples of tangibleactivities include:• providing worship servicebulletin inserts and flyersthat draw attention to teenpregnancy;• creating teen pregnancyfocusedinterfaith/interdenominationalworshipservices with clergy;• offering to speak to religiouseducation classes;• sponsoring a coffee or brunchfor clergy and other faithcommunity leaders;• visiting ministerial or clergyassociations to raise awarenessof the teen pregnancyproblem;• inviting faith communityleaders to attend professionalconferences, seminars, andtraining sessions;• sponsoring seminars andother learning events justfor the faith community orits leaders;• using direct mail to keep theissue of teen pregnancybefore the faith community;• talking with faith communityleaders to exchange informationabout each other’s work; and• writing, printing, and distributingplacemats or othermaterials that provide factsand information about teenpregnancy for use at fellowshipdinners.An additional way to engagea given faith community is toask for its participation in acommunity-wide coalition focusedon preventing teen pregnancy. Afaith community can activelyparticipate in a coalition by: