A pastor fired for porn addiction is offering help to fellow strugglers.
Greg Oliver, a former worship pastor for 11 years at a Birmingham-area church, was fired in 2009 for pornography use. Two years ago, he started Awaken Recovery, an addiction recovery ministry.
Oliver told Alabama Living, “In early 2009, I was exposed, I lost my job, but I began recovery.
He and his wife, Stacey, worked through the crisis. After they went through counseling and recovery, they started counseling others through weekly support group meetings at the Church at Brook Hills. Oliver says “I’m a recovering addict; I know the shame people feel.”
Oliver calls the shame overwhelming and With internet pornography so easily available, the problem of porn addiction is widespread, including among pastors and church staff members.
Oliver now holds conferences on fighting pornography. The target audience is parents, church leaders, counselors, teachers and coaches who work with older elementary, middle school, high school students at risk for exposure to pornography.
Oliver says “God has a design for sex that’s awesome adding pornography inhibits and interferes with that plan. He calls pornography a counterfeit that cheapens sex, reduces intimacy; and will hurt your ability to have healthy sex later in life.
According to research about 70 percent of teenagers say they’ve been exposed to hard-core pornography.