NORWICH – With divorce rates increasingly high across the state, the Broad Street United Methodist Church has formed a of a one-of-a-kind Divorce Support Group that organizers hope will aid those who have been through a divorce or are in the process of getting one.

Said Broad Street United Methodist Pastor Nancy Hale, who along with Martha Sichta will lead the weekly support group, “I believe this is the only support group of its kind in Norwich.”

Divorce, stated Hale, is an emotional and complicated issue for most people, and in turn brings with it an emotional response. Add to that the variability in the circumstances of each and every divorce, and it is seldom an easy decision or process, she added. According to the United States Census Bureau, there were approximately 120,000 marriages in 2009, offset by nearly 50,000 divorces in New York State. In 2000, there were 162,000 marriages and approximately 70,000 divorces statewide. In 1990, there were 155,000 marriages and nearly 58,000 divorces across the state.

Said Hale, “For those who experience divorce in their own lives, the meaning is compounded in ways that are highly personal.”