Is Your Church Safe?

It seems that not a week goes by when you don’t read a story in the news about abuse in the church. As a result, you are keenly aware of how important abuse prevention is.

You know that when someone has been victimized by abuse, the victim/survivor bears the emotional and spiritual wounds of that abuse in their bodies and spirits for years, even decades. You know abuse in the church compromises the good news of Jesus Christ that the church professes to proclaim. You know that church should not be a place where people are hurt. And you want your church to be a safe place where people can grow in their faith and worship God free from abuse.  But you are not sure where to start and the task seems overwhelming.

In this workshop, we will talk about common obstacles to abuse prevention in churches and share best practices. We will reflect on what it means for churches to not only safeguard children and teens but to put in place measures that prevent any and all kinds of abuses of power.  We will explore scenarios that help us consider what resources our churches have in place to respond to situations of abuse and where we might need to bolster our prevention and response efforts.  And we will explore steps that you can take to make your church safer and introduce new Safe Church Ministry resources such as the new Safe Church Assessment Tool and a model Safe Church Policy template.

If you are interested in engaging in this training for your church, please reach out to [email protected].  

(this training can be hosted in person or on zoom and is 1.5 hours in length)