Safe Church

How can church leaders maintain appropriate boundaries that ensure safety, without discriminating or feeding into sexism or legalism?

This story should help us realize that sexual assault must never be minimized and there must always be proper discipline administered to those who abuse their power. This too should remind us of the devastation that sexually inappropriate and assaultive behavior causes for women and men in all walks of life.

Based in Seattle, the Faith Trust Institute is a faith-based organization that provides written and video resources for the prevention of sexual assault, domestic violence, and church leader misconduct. 

Synod 2019 included a powerful litany that invited delegates to reflect and lament abuse of power that has caused much harm to many within our CRC community. Safe Church offers and recommends this litany for use in churches. 

Take time to read about the ways in which our Catholic brothers and sisters are finding ways to offer reparations for past evil.

This resource is a consolidation of guidelines that CRC Synods have adopted over time, as a supplement to the Church Order, to equip churches to deal with an abuse allegation in a manner that is consistent with CRC beliefs and values. 

Here is a brief overview of the Advisory Panel Process. You'll also find a flow chart that illustrates the steps of the process.