Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs)
Spiritual leaders and places of worship can play an important role in fighting tobacco use, the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. Below you’ll find simple steps and a list of resources than can help members of your community quit smoking for good.
Churches, synagogues, temples, monasteries, mosques, and other houses of worship are natural centers for spiritual, emotional, and physical wellness. As a faith leader, you can bring quit-smoking resources to those in need—and you can set an example on how to have a healthier lifestyle.
What Can People of Faith Do?
- Make your home, car, place of worship, and business/workplace smokefree and tobacco-free.
- Find local educational materials, support groups, or cessation programs. Ask your state or local health department what they recommend, and use CDC’s “Reasons to Quit” trifold brochures and notepads for health care providers & counselors that include the quitline number, 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669). Offer these to your members who want to quit.
- Display the Tips From Former Smokers® (Tips®) ads on your group’s campus, link to them from your website, and include them in your publications.
- Refer members to the How to Quit Smoking section of the Tips website.
- Sponsor stop-smoking classes at your place of worship. Create and lead support groups.
- Educate community leaders about policies that make it easier for people who smoke to quit and harder for people to start smoking.
Resources for Faith-Based Organizations
Here are some resources to help you with this very important work in your community:
- Frequently asked questions about the Tips campaign and how it can help you address tobacco use in the faith-based setting.
- Free campaign videos, posters, radio ads, print ads, web-ready graphics, PowerPoint presentations, and more at the Media Campaign Resource Center (MCRC).
- A free CDC handout that you can give to members of your congregations to motivate them to quit smoking [PDF – 954 KB].
- Order free notepads (with the 1-800-QUIT-NOW quitline number and CDC logo) to share with members of your congregation and community.
- Social media images for your organization and your members to share on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
- FAQs about how quitlines work and their effectiveness.
Other Resources
- The Partnership Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – The Partnership Center helps build and support partnerships with faith-based and community organizations to better serve individuals, families, and communities in need.
- DHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (DHS Center) fosters partnerships between government and faith-based organizations (FBOs) to increase the nation’s resilience by creating trust and developing relationships.
- Center at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) This Center serves as a resource center for secular and faith-based organizations that want to partner with HUD to address the housing and community development needs of neighborhoods.
- Faith United Against Tobacco. These faith-based organizations are actively promoting the Tips campaign. Some have health-related resources on their websites.
- American Baptist Home Mission Societies
- General Commission on United Methodist Men
- Health Ministries Association
- Islamic Society of North America
- Seventh-day Adventist Health Ministries- North America Division
- United Church of Christ Health Ministry
- General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
- Tips Campaign Resources
