McKinley Memorial Baptist Church Urged Help for Domestic Violence

The Willow Grove church featured an advocate for Norristown’s Laurel House in its Men’s Day service on Sunday in honor of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The McKinley Memorial Baptist Church in Willow Grove celebrated Men’s Day on Sunday, but services were also very much about women, as the congregation heard from an advocate from domestic violence agency Laurel House in Norristown, as well as pastor Marlon Millner, who also serves a Norristown councilman. 

Agnes Kiah, a legal advocate for Laurel House and a deacon at the Saints Memorial Baptist Church in Bryn Mawr, spoke about her own experience of domestic abuse.

According to Kiah, the man thought that he had slit her throat with a rusty blade, enough so to kill her, but he was wrong; he had cut her eyelid, instead. Kiah said that he continued to victimize and harass her while he was in jail. She fought to prevent his parole and was able to at points but eventually he was released. “He has now been out and since he has been out, he has violated his parole,” she said, solemnly.    

Kiah has been assisting Laurel House for 14 years. “It’s not as easy as you think to get out or get away,” she said.

According to Millner, whether he is wearing the hat of a religious leader or the hat of a councilman, he can help expose the pubic to these issues. “We have to create space for people to come forward,” he said.

Laurel House is a domestic violence organization assisting those in Montgomery county, according to their website. They have various programs, from their program that assists those fleeing from abuse, to their program that helps children to cope with the trauma of having been exposed to violence, according to the website.

According to Kiah, Laurel House is in need of donations for women and children in the shelter, as well as monetary donations.