{"id":488,"date":"2014-09-09T18:05:25","date_gmt":"2014-09-09T23:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/women\/?p=488"},"modified":"2014-09-09T18:05:25","modified_gmt":"2014-09-09T23:05:25","slug":"avas-suggestions-for-the-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/women\/2014\/09\/09\/avas-suggestions-for-the-nfl\/","title":{"rendered":"AVA&#8217;s Suggestions for the NFL"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_492\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/93\/2014\/09\/AVA.jpg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[488]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-492\" class=\" wp-image-492\" title=\"Advocacy for Victims of Abuse Logo\" alt=\"AVA\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/93\/2014\/09\/AVA-300x130.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"104\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/women\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/93\/2014\/09\/AVA-300x130.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/women\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/93\/2014\/09\/AVA.jpg 555w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-492\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The AVA logo depicts a flaming candle shining brightly in the midst of the intertwined letters; the light of Jesus Christ who is the truth, brings healing to the abused.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>by Yvonne DeVaughn, AVA Director for the Evangelical Covenant Church<\/p>\n<p>AVA (Advocacy for Victims of Abuse) stands in solidarity against all manner of domestic violence in our communities. We believe that God created women and men in the image of God, equal in dignity, worth, rights, and authority, and sin has distorted God\u2019s created order (Genesis 1:26-27; Galatians 3:28).<\/p>\n<p>Domestic violence includes all forms of physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, verbal, spiritual, and financial abuse, including what is often a pattern of battering, threats, intimidation, isolation, and economic coercion, used by one person to exert power and\/or control over another person in the context of intimate, dating, family, or household relationships. The epidemic of domestic violence is found in all types of communities and family structures, and devastates young and old women, children and men.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Domestic violence is never excusable.<\/strong> The exposure to and results of violence are so prevalent that it has become commonplace and almost a norm in our public and private lives. The sad and disturbing unfolding details of Ray Rice, running back for the Ravens, and his incident of domestic violence against his wife, Janae Palmer Rice has again brought national attention to this issue that plagues every community, including all faith communities. The NFL\u2019s decision to terminate Rice\u2019s contract under it\u2019s newly-formed \u201cno tolerance\u201d policy is a step in the right direction and more organizations should follow their lead.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, using the pretext that domestic violence is a private family matter continues to obscure the critical need to address this blight within our communities and congregations. But it doesn&#8217;t have to be that way. <strong>The NFL and other organizations can go a step further in their \u201cno tolerance\u201d by not only putting policies in place, but by educating and supporting those under their charge (including their immediate families) to discover ways to develop and celebrate living non-violently.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But it should not stop there; accountability should also come from their peers. And the faith community should be the forerunner offering resources rather than roadblocks to ensure that our communities are safe and healing.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about the Evangelical Covenant Church&#8217;s efforts to fight Domestic Violence and Childhood Sexual Abuse, click <a title=\"AVA Page\" href=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/abuse\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>, or email wmc@covchurch.org.<br \/>\nIf you are in an abusive situation currently and need help, the National Abuse Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/women?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=488&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Yvonne DeVaughn, AVA Director for the Evangelical Covenant Church AVA (Advocacy for Victims of Abuse) stands in solidarity against all manner of domestic violence in our communities. We believe that God created women and men in the image of God, equal in dignity, worth, rights, and authority, and sin has distorted God\u2019s created order [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15401,15419,15421],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ava-abuse","category-womens-issues","category-womens-ministry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AVA&#039;s Suggestions for the NFL - Women Ministries of the Covenant<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AVA&#039;s Suggestions for the NFL - Women Ministries of the Covenant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Yvonne DeVaughn, AVA Director for the Evangelical Covenant Church AVA (Advocacy for Victims of Abuse) stands in solidarity against all manner of domestic violence in our communities. 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