Partners in Prevention – Samaritan SafeChurch

We were absolutely thrilled to have Linda Crockett from Samaritan SafeChurch at our Safe Church Ministry Conference in November. She inspired us with her own unsettling story, her passion, and her amazing accomplishments in building a social movement, which she believes is the only way to address a problem as complex as child sexual abuse. 

You will soon be able to join Linda’s plenary session about building a movement to end child sexual abuse. Once the recording edits are complete it will be posted; look for a link soon on the Safe Church website. Though there was a glitch in the original recording, Linda has graciously worked with Calvin College to re-produce the missing part (only the last half will feature her live). Her presentation makes it clear that it’s not enough to check off the boxes: yes we have a policy; yes we have background checks. Rather we need to change the culture in which we live. Our prayer is that this will become a useful resource, and that you will join in to find out why a social movement is needed, and why this issue, child sexual abuse, is so important right now. 

This is not the first time that we’ve partnered with Linda Crockett. You can view a webinar about the church’s role in ending child sexual abuse, which was created in partnership with CRC Safe Church Ministry in 2015. It’s our hope that this will not be the last time that we partner with Linda Crockett. Samaritan SafeChurch is available as a resource to others, to CRC safe church teams, and to congregations, especially those who would like to join a movement to end child sexual abuse. Perhaps you will want to connect with neighboring churches to form a Samaritan SafeChurch “cluster”; a group that will spend a year together, working to build a safer community. Perhaps your congregation is located near a place where a Samaritan SafeChurch cluster group is already forming that you can join.

Perhaps you would like to have Linda come to facilitate a one-time training event for safe church team members, or for your congregation or community. Please prayerfully consider ways that you might partner with Linda or with Samaritan SafeChurch. CRC Safe Church Ministry is committed to encouraging and resourcing these valuable partnerships (think mini-grant opportunity).