A point of frustration at times in the pro-life movement has been that the church doesn’t seem to do enough to fight abortion. Though there are some great examples of efforts that are, in fact, happening in this regard, there remains a desire to form a deeper relational connection between pregnant moms and church communities. Even when churches faithfully contribute at annual pregnancy center banquets, there can still seem to be little to no deep relational connections between church members and pregnancy center clients.
Now, organizations in the field of family preservation ministry and pro-life pregnancy help are joining forces to increase church and pregnancy center connection through wrap-around support communities for vulnerable pregnant moms.
The model comes from family preservation ministry Upstream Collaborative and its key member My Village Ministries. My Village also oversees church communities for families at risk for foster care and extended that same concept to inviting church communities to wrap services around pregnant mothers. This has been tested and perfected across the flagship Columbus, Ohio, headquarters and two chapters in Hickory and Asheville, N.C., under the My Village organization. The idea is that supporting a woman while she is pregnant helps family preservation succeed, preventing any need for foster care down the line. Thus, this is an “upstream” solution to poverty and the foster care crisis.
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Melody Marshall is a leader at Upstream and My Village. She says it was originally a pregnancy center director in her area who explained to her that “these moms need a choice besides abortion, adoption, or staying vulnerable.” Pro-life ministry was thus foster-care prevention.
When we really support the parenting choice, we can help moms “grow stronger and receive a community of support,” Marshall said.
Additionally, moms in the program can have access to a church community ready-made for her.
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Pregnancy centers considering the program can understandably be a bit apprehensive about potentially overwhelming churches with women who have high needs, but My Village helps pregnancy centers learn to train churches in trauma-informed care.
“We're truly teaching how to be in [a] relationship with somebody who has a very different story than you that is built on compassion and dignity and not judgment,” Marshall said. “And that training then has allowed us to build trust and rapport with the pregnancy centers that we're supporting where they feel confident sending families our way. And it's actually building a bridge between them and the church.”
The model is now available for independent pregnancy centers wishing to affiliate with them in order to access their blueprint. The program allows other ministries to use their model in their local area. For an affiliation fee, everything My Village has learned can be replicated - this time with a local pregnancy center serving as the coordinating hub for various church teams. Unlike typical pregnancy center affiliations that cover broad operational needs, this affiliation is focused on the church engagement model specifically, allowing pregnancy centers to cut-and-paste what already works, rather than reinventing the wheel.
Savannah Marten, director of Bella Vita Network which operates a pregnancy center in the Toledo, Ohio, area, recently became the first affiliate for the My Village Expectant Parent model.
“[The Upstream Collaborative and their expectant family model through My Village] will help us partner with local churches in the area to place [moms] with a team of people [for real relational needs such as] to provide transportation to and from pregnancy-related appointments,” she said.
That applies, Marten explained, whether it’s a pregnancy center appointment, OB appointment, or counseling appointment.
The model “also provides childcare during those appointments [and] childcare overnight for up to four nights during labor and delivery,” Marten said.
Marten has seen firsthand this need for childcare and how it relates to foster care and believes this new model will help to prevent additional crises for moms.
“The church we are launching with - they are all in,” she said. “I’ve heard pastors and churches talk about this. How do we partner with you better? How do we help these women in a more holistic way?”
Through affiliation, the impact of the My Village Expectant Mom model will now reach new areas and new moms.
More women will find the relational support they need, just like single mom Andrea described when she found her My Village team.
"They made me a priority and reminded me that I am not forgotten and that things can get better,” she said. “The support of My Village was the help I needed to get through the final stages of bringing baby Aaliya into the world."
