Pastor Tommy E. Quick
With Father’s Day on the way, Pastor Tommy E. Quick believes there’s no better time to challenge Spartanburg’s fathers to step firmly into their roles as leaders — both in their homes and within the local community.
Quick has been a pastor for over 50 years, and has been serving Spartanburg for 33. As he spent more and more time working with people over five decades in ministry, Quick says that he came to realize that much of the dysfunction he was seeing societally was sourced straight from households and families.
“When households are not stable or there is dysfunction, so often, the people who come from those households are not well mentally, financially, or spiritually,” says Quick. “We wanted to get to the root of the problem — which we realize is a big mission. But we want to restore relationships between men and women so that they can live together, devoted to a lifetime together, and that their children can have the benefit of two parents that love each other and are dedicated to raising children successfully with good values.”
Out of this belief, an organization was born: Christian Families Against Destructive Decisions, or CFADD.
CFADD serves the Spartanburg community through curriculums and training opportunities for people in all stages of life — families, individuals who are not yet married, couples who are nearing marriage, and couples who have been married for some time.
“We want to give people a vision and a design that they can build upon,” says Quick. “Most people are doing the best they can with the information they have. We’re not trying to make anyone feel as though they just aren’t putting forth the effort, but people make decisions based upon the information they have, so we have to model and show them how the Lord blesses when we’re aligned with His purpose and plans for us.”
Quick believes that this realignment could have a massive ripple effect within local communities. “Often, when we talk about things like incarceration or addiction, the media and public institutions don’t identify father deficit as one of the causes,” he says. “But, for example, roughly 82% of people who are incarcerated come from fatherless homes. And very few people want to say, we need to go to work to strengthen fatherhood in our community. We need to raise the standards of dads and get them to understand how far-reaching of an impact their decisions have on the generations of children and grandchildren to come.”
As Father’s Day approaches, CFADD is inviting fathers, grandfathers, and future fathers across Spartanburg to participate in “The Fatherhood Standard,” a public Father’s Day gathering focused on restoring fatherhood, family leadership, and community stability. This event is part of a broader local initiative currently underway with CFADD called Operation Watchman 2.0.
“We want to use Father’s Day to say that we are raising a new standard of fathering in our community,” says Quick. “We’re seeking to get 1,000 men that will make a declaration: ‘I’m going to cover my family. I’m going to cover my wife. I’m going to raise my children. I’m going to nurture them in the way of God. I’m going to provide for them.’”
In the Spartanburg community, 35% of children currently live in a home without a dad. “We see the effects of that everywhere — in the poverty rate, in school success, in mental health challenges,” says Quick. “Fatherhood is not a private issue. It’s a community stability issue. And I believe that churches, civic leaders, and even philanthropic institutions have a legitimate stake in the conversation. It affects the economy, job readiness, even sometimes racial cohesion. We want the community to recognize that this is an issue of tremendous importance.”
Fathers all across Spartanburg are invited to attend The Fatherhood Standard on Sunday, June 21st from 1:30–2 p.m. in the parking lot of The Beacon Restaurant.
For more information about CFADD, visit https://cfadd.org/
