“…Second, in both rural White and African-American communities, religious institutions occupy center stage as one of the few empowering, sustainable, and self-directed entities. (Corbie-Smith et al 2003; Leonard 1999; Lumpkins 2013) For many small, poor, rural communities, churches have been the only existing and sustainable organizational infrastructure, thus positioning the church to play a central role in community life and information-sharing. (Campbell et al 2007; Plunkett and Leipert 2013; Thomas et al 1994) Similar to the key roles of many African-American pastors, Appalachian pastors (some of whom in our project are also African-American), take on numerous and multidimensional healing roles, including serving as counselors, health educators and advocates, and even agents of change against stigmatized behaviors.…”