Dr. Monty Burks, director of Faith-based Initiatives for the State of Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, is speaking to area pastors and lay ministers at 9 a.m. on May 20. The event will take place on the campus of Adult & Teen Challenge MidSouth (ATCM). He is in town as the keynote speaker for the ministry’s 2021 Freedom Galalater that day, but will use the morning to connect with members of the faith-based community with a goal of expanding addiction recovery support services across the state.
“Dr.
Burks is actively engaging faith communities and organizations as a means of increasing outreach, educational activities, access and visibility to people seeking substance abuse services,” says Dr. David McNabb, ATCM president.
“We want to identify churches and ministries that are open to sharing the recovery message in their community and linking arms with other counties and even sometimes other belief systems,” Dr. Burks said.
Dr. Burks has been in recovery for more than 18 years and he has seen the role faith can play in a person’s path to getting clean. “People hit rock bottom and sometimes when they hit rock bottom, the weight of the world is on their back, so they need hope and belief in something bigger – something that’s going to pull them out of that trench,” he said.
Dr. McNabb adds that Dr. Burks has actively worked with ATCM to bring a light to the ministry’s work on behalf of people struggling with addiction. According to Dr. McNabb, “For some, a residential program – away from the pressures and triggers that lead to addiction – is the best course. For those men and women, Adult & Teen Challenge MidSouth offers a focus – not on the drug of choice – but on healing through the truth of God’s Word.”
Pastors of all denominations are invited to attend the breakfast by making a reservation at
http://breakfast.tcmidsouth.org. Space is limited.