NORTH MIAMI BEACH — Last Good Friday, while members of Fulford United Methodist Church here decorated the stage area of the Performing Arts Center for their Easter service, a city worker approached the Rev. Steve Hoffman and asked if he was the church’s pastor.

When Hoffman said he was, the man said, "I want to thank your church for saving my son’s life."

The man’s son, according to Hoffman, had attempted suicide because of problems with gambling. After the son was released from the hospital, his father physically took him to the Gamblers Anonymous meeting held every Wednesday night at Fulford. After that, the son continued to attend meetings on his own.

"He not only survived, but he now has a successful life," Hoffman said. "He has a family now. He has a very happy family life and is a successful businessman."

Although the son attends worship at another church, Hoffman said he knows "he got in touch with the higher power that sustains his life…he knows on who he is absolutely dependent."

For the past 10 years, Fulford United Methodist Church has opened its doors to Gamblers Anonymous, providing a meeting room for the group in its education building.

On any given Wednesday night, 30 or more people from a variety of age, cultural and economic groups gather at the church to overcome their addiction to gambling. The church also provides space to a Narcotics Anonymous group.

Despite the successes of the recovery group, Hoffman said he knows the problem with gambling is still a major one, especially in south Florida, because of the availability of gambling opportunities. "There’s a bingo hall right across the street from us," he said. "It has a pretty committed membership."

Hoffman said he believes the state lottery has helped spread the problem by providing greater accessibility, especially for young people, to gambling activities.

"If you open the purses in my congregation, you would find a majority of them contain lottery tickets," he said. "That doesn’t mean that everyone who buys a lottery ticket has a problem with gambling…It’s [addiction] not inevitable, but there are a certain number of people who are more receptive to certain behaviors. One thing leads to another."

Hoffman says groups like Gamblers Anonymous can provide individual solutions to gambling problems, but wider social issues will be difficult to solve. The major obstacle to effectively addressing the problem of addiction is apathy.

"The problem is the whole ethos, or atmosphere, that gambling is not that big a problem," he said. "I am surprised at the number of pastors who see this as a non-issue."

Hoffman said he is also uneasy about church members’ casual attitude toward gambling, especially the lottery. Since last January, church members have been unable to meet in their sanctuary because of the danger of roof beams collapsing. Several times, people have told him that if they win the lottery, they’ll give half their winnings to the church for a new building.

"That’s not Christian stewardship," Hoffman said. "The lottery is not a source of blessing."

Hoffman said educating people, especially church members, about the theology of Christian stewardship and encouraging them to take part in advocacy groups trying to influence the public’s perception of gambling would be a major step toward a solution.