Dr. Dale Ryan

Dr. Dale Ryan recalls the first day in his first ministry position in a local church, “I was still unpacking books in my new office when I got a phone call about a child in the congregation who had been sexually abused. I remember hanging up the phone and realizing that nothing in my seminary training had prepared me for this moment.” Now an associate professor of recovery ministry and director of the Fuller Institute for Recovery Ministry (FIRM), Ryan teaches courses that prepare students so that “when that first phone call comes—and it will come—our graduates will have some basic skills to respond in helpful ways.”

Indeed, sexual abuse and violent crime seem to be rampant in our society. Because news broadcasts are constantly filled with reports on the violent acts of mentally ill people, many wonder if the world has gone haywire and if such tragedies can ever be prevented. Yet when asked about recent news stories, Ryan is careful to correct the notion that such heinous violence is only carried out by insane people who hurt strangers, and is therefore unpreventable. “The truth is that most people who kill (or hurt) others are intimate partners. Three women will be murdered today in the United States by their spouses and probably one man as well. This happens every day.”

Ryan believes that when local church communities are led and shaped by well-trained pastors who work closely with mental healthcare agencies, they can reduce both the violence and trauma that make national headlines as well as that which afflicts many church members who silently suffer as they sit in the pews. Under such leadership, the local church can support initiatives that provide housing, job training, and other services to people at risk for hurting themselves or others, as well as support the first-responders who face the deeply traumatic situations that grab the media’s attention. As Ryan explains, “These actions help protect all of us from the hopelessness and passivity that often accompanies the aftermath of a major tragedy.”

In order for this to be so, future pastoral leaders make their way to Fuller to study and prepare for difficult work. They sacrifice time, energy, and the finances they have available to them. But often, they need help in the form of scholarship aid, and they look to the seminary for it. And as Ryan explains, “Fuller is not in the habit of resting on its laurels. We are convinced that we are called to invest in the future leadership of the global Christian community. Donors to the Fuller Fund can be assured that their contributions will be supporting some of the most creative and forward-looking initiatives in the Christian community,” including initiatives like FIRM. Like our donors, he considers it both blessing and mandate to be a part of prevention and recovery in the church and wider world.