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Things a Church can Do

There are LOTS of things a local church can do to not be a passive bystander in the face of abuse. Some are big things. Some are little.

I’m a big fan of realism in ministry. So it might be a good idea to start with something small but achievable.

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LECTURE NOTES:

Welcome People who have been Abused to Church

Trust does not come easy for people who have been abused. Thank them for the trust they demonstrate when they come to church. It is a sign that God has not given up.

Tell the Truth on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day

These can be very difficult days for people who have been abused. If all you do is mirror a kind of Hallmark Card/Norman Rockwell version of how wonderful parents are. . . a third of your audience will probably dissociate. There is no good reason not to tell the truth. Some parents were hurtful parents. We do not celebrate abusive mother’s on Mother’s Day — we celebrate God’s good intentions for motherhood. And even as we celebrate we can grieve how far short we come from God’s intentions. And we can pray for healing for those who have been harmed by parents.

Include Education on Violence Prevention in Pre-Marital Counseling

It is reasonably clear that preparation for and skill building for marital conflict is a key element in pre-marital counseling. [See article by Joan Groom]. At a minimum, tell the truth. . . sometimes things go wrong, very wrong, in spite of good intentions, in spite of all our hopes and dreams. Sometimes good people hurt the ones they love the most. No one wants things to end up like that. But it does happen. Educate people about what to do if things go wrong.

Develop Policies and Procedures for Abuse Situations

Every congregation should have a clear set of policies about how to handle abuse. Trying to figure out what to do in the midst of trauma is very difficult and confusing. Setting policies and procedures ahead of time can prevent a lot of unnecessary suffering. Policies should include reporting procedures, guidelines on responding to people who report abuse, guidelines for responding to people accused of abuse, guidelines for interaction with church leadership, community leaders, the press etc. Here are a few examples. There are many more examples online.

Educate Leadership About Legal Obligations

“Reporting an abuser doesn’t ruin their life. They did that themselves. Reporting an abuser doesn’t damage their reputation. It makes it more accurate. Reporting an abuser doesn’t hurt their family. It protects them from abuse. Reporting an abuser isn’t gossip. It’s integrity.” —Jennifer Michelle Greeenberg

Summary of clergy reporting requirements

Mandatory reporting requirements by state can be found here.

Confidentiality and Mandatory Reporting: a Clergy Dilemma? Rev. Marie M. Fortune

For California see these two files:
The California Child Abuse & Neglect Reporting Law [pdf]
One Page Summary [pdf]

and

Report Form: State Form 8572

Create an Annual Congregation-wide Event

Set an annual week to emphasize child abuse. Preach on it. Feature a local organization that helps abused kids–invite the executive director to Sunday services and publicly thank them for what they do. Distribute a list of local resources. Do prevention workshops. Do special programming in all Christian education programs. Have a moment of silence for children that have been abused in your community. In the US, in recent years, April has been declared “Child Abuse Prevention Month”. Details are usually at here . Other annualized programs include:

Do Background Checks for Volunteers

Anyone who works with kids should get a background check.

Commercial background check services:

Background checks are not a perfect solution. It is important to know that in some states there are significant restrictions on the kind of data that can be acquired and some significant limitations on how that data can be used. In California, for example, the fact that a person is listed on a sex offender’s list may NOT be legally used in matters of employment. [See: California CA Penal Code §290.4(d)(1): Use of sex offender list]. So while background checks are a good idea, they are not sufficient to provide the kind of protection for children that most churches will require.

Develop a Critical Incident Response Team

If your congregation has such a team for generic ‘crisis response’, one member should have a specialization in abuse. If not, a seperate team could be formed. In some situations such a team could work effectively to assist other congregations within your denomination/community in addition to your own.Most “Critical Incident” resources are focused on emergency services in response to natural disasters or terrorism but they also deal with early interventions with trauma, stress management, PTSD and other topics which are useful for an abuse-focused critical incident response team. See for example:

Support Foster Care Programs

Do something nice for foster parents in your community. Ask them to come to your congregation and tell stories. Invite them to a picnic to honor their efforts on behalf of abused kids. Encourage families in the congregation to consider being foster parents.

Build Bridges to Local Resources And Give Them Visibility

Post a list of local emergency resources for abused women in the women’s bathrooms – the best format is probably something on a business card — sometimes called a ‘shoe card’ because if placed in individual bathroom stalls you could pick up a copy and put it in your shoe without anyone knowing. Very few people who really need it will pick up a large fancy brochure from a public place! Develop a more complete referral/resource directory. Update it regularly and distribute it to congregational leadership. Be a ‘squeaky wheel’ about local resources. Write articles for church newsletters. Offer to prepare a once a quarter (once a month?) item for the Sunday bulletin featuring a local resource.

Make Outreach to Survivors of Abuse Part of Your Missions Program

The global impact of abuse is hard to overstate. Abuse is one of the most powerful weapons in the arsenal of the enemies of God’s Kingdom. So send someone into this mission field! Help the Christian community world-wide to respond effectively to the problems of abuse, neglect and trauma.

Develop a Face-to-Face Support Group for Adult Survivors of Abuse

Develop a Victim-Offender Mediation/Reconciliation Program (Restorative Justice)

The legal system is designed to result in retributive justice. A person who has abused has committed an offense against the state and its laws and is punished by the state. Where is the abused person in this scheme of things? Sometimes almost invisible. It is very common for abused persons to feel completely excluded from the workings of the criminal justice system. It if important, therefore, to remember that retributive justice is not the only kind of justice. Restorative justice is just as important. It’s goal is, to the extent possible, facilitate restoration of that which has been broken. This is a completely different approach to justice. Good models exist for congregational participation in this kind of justice work.

The National Association for Christian Recovery
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South Bend, IN 46637
email: admin@nacr.org

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