The theme for the 2021 webeinar series was "On Being a Safe Church." If you missed the webinars from 2020, you can check out the recordings and resources here.
Abuse never happens in a vacuum. Whether it is sexual abuse, emotional, spiritual, or physical abuse. There are always warning signs, patterns and ways we are with one another that affect others. So what does it look like for each of us to be a living stone, being built into a spiritual house that is for the healing of the nations?
We heard from a variety of people that helped inspire us to create healthy and safe cultures in our congregations and communities. We hope these conversations help the church to form relationships and cultures that:
- seek to make right where wrong has occurred,
- empower each other to respect other image bearers of God,
- enable processes that restore trust and reciprocity
- radiate care, compassion, and empathy which is at the heart of Jesus, the fruits of the spirit, and the gospel, the good news for all creation.
Recordings available from each of the following:
May 12th, 2021 @ 12p: Webinar with Dr. Amanda Benckhuysen: Biblical Perspectives on Human Dignity and How That Shapes the Church's Life Together.
June 9th @ 12p: Webinar On Being Restorative Congregations In the Aftermath of COVID with Anne Martin M.A. Ph.D. (Director of Restorative Practices) and Mark Vander Vennen M.A., M.Ed, R.S.W. (Executive Director of Shalem Mental Health).
July 7th @ 12p: Webinar with Dr. Scot Mcknight, Author of The Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture that Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing
August 4th @ 12p: Webinar On Being a Trauma Informed Congregation with Dr. Dawn Gibson and Pastor Anthony Gibson of Peletah Ministries
September 8th @ 7p: Safe Church Town Hall on September 8th at 7p Eastern
October 6th @ 12p: October Safe Church Webinar: Faith Leaders and a Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence
November 17th @ 12p: November Webinar with Beth Alison Barr, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Become Gospel Truth
December 8th @ 12p: December Webinar: Ways of Creating a Culture of Goodness featuring a panel of guests who are staff members of Christian Reformed Church Justice Ministries:
- Vivi Cornejo, Office of Race Relations
- Andrew Oppong, Office of Social Justice
- Cindy Stover, Centre for Public Dialogue
- Amanda Benckhuysen, Safe Church Ministry
- Lindsay Wieland Capel, Disability Concerns
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