Church leaders on the Middle Peninsula have been invited to a forum, “The Drug House or the Church House,” on the opioid epidemic, on Friday, hosted by 98th district Del. Keith Hodges (R-Middlesex).
The forum will take place at 10 a.m. at Hermitage Baptist Church in Church View, Middlesex County. A news release said it “aims to bring together pastors and lay leaders from congregations throughout the region to help develop a plan to respond to the opioid epidemic throughout the district.”
It is open to church leaders in the district, which includes Gloucester, Middlesex, Essex, Mathews, King and Queen and King William counties, as well as the towns of West Point, Tappahannock and Urbanna. 
The Middle Peninsula Opioid Addiction Task Force, with which Hodges is active, includes a diverse group of health care professionals, law enforcement officers, public officials and religious leaders, the release said.
When first established, Task Force leaders identified a...