Church helps families alter harmful behavior
Peace Lutheran Church in Ferndale is expanding a program to help families deal with and change unhealthy behavior.
The 250-member church will sponsor twice-monthly special sessions of prayer fellowship, Bible study and refreshments. Meetings will be the first Sunday and first Tuesday of each month in the church library, 416 Wellham Ave.
Pastor Mark Chavez said the meetings grew out of the 50-day experiment conducted last spring, in which church members explored ways to handle unhealthy behavior in family life. Participants kept daily journals and discussed in small groups behaviors such as blaming and shaming, denial, frozen feelings and conditional love.
The meetings, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sundays and from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays, will focus on teaching practical skills to overcome harmful behaviors.
The next meetings are scheduled for Dec. 1 and Dec. 6.