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, place of worship, car, 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 handout [PDF – 1.16MB] and notepads 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 Web site, and include them in your publications.
• Refer members to the I’m Ready to Quit guide on the Tips Web site.
• Sponsor stop-smoking classes at your place of worship. Create and lead support groups.
• Educate community leaders about policies that make it easier for current smokers to quit and harder for nonsmokers to start—especially youth.

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
• Find Faith-Based Fact Sheets for information about tobacco use in your state. Click on the map to view fact sheets.
• Free campaign videos, posters, radio ads, print ads, Web-ready graphics, PowerPoint presentations, and more at the Tips Download Center
• Link to the faith-based webinar – ‘It Takes Faith – Addressing Tobacco Use within the Faith Community’.  This webinar features presentations from national faith leaders; those working in health ministry; and the CDC.
• A free CDC handout that you can give to members of your congregations to motivate them to quit smoking [PDF – 1.16MB]
• Order free notepads (with the 1-800-QUIT-NOW quitline number and CDC logo) to use in your practice (enter “notepad” in search bar on publication catalog web page).
• Social media images for your organization and your members to share on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter
• FAQs about how quitlines work and their effectiveness
• A printable, pocket-sized tobacco intervention card [PDF – 69.4KB] that lists the steps for conducting a brief tobacco intervention. Even nonmedical staff can lead interventions with members to help them quit smoking.
• Free continuing education training for up to 4.5 CEs, entitled “Smoking Cessation for Pregnancy and Beyond: A Virtual Clinic”

Other Resources:

• White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
  The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships coordinates Centers for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships in various federal agencies. Each Center forms partnerships between its agency and faith-based and neighborhood organizations to advance specific goals. Some of the federal partners include:
  • Center at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – This Center helps build and support partnerships with faith-based and community organizations to better serve individuals, families, and communities in need.
  • Center at the Environmental Protection Agency – This Center was created to expand the environmental conversation and build partnerships between government, faith-based and neighborhood organizations to create cleaner communities, healthier families and a stronger America.
  • Center at the Department of Education This Center engages community-based organizations in building a culture of high expectations and support for education.
  • 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.
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) SAMHSA’s toolkit, Sustaining Grassroots Community-Based Programs, contains six books to help grassroots organizations and FBOs. The series discusses organizational assessment, marketing, financial management, sustainability and funding, and evaluation. It’s available to order for free.
• Faith United Against Tobacco. These faith-based organizations are actively promoting the Tips campaign. Some have health-related resources on their Web sites.
  • American Baptist Home Mission Societies
  • General Commission on United Methodist Men
  • Health Ministries Association
  • Islamic Society of North America
  • National Episcopal Health Ministries
  • Seventh-day Adventist Health Ministries- North America Division
  • Union of Reform Judaism
  • United Church of Christ Health Ministry
  • General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
• Tips Campaign Resources