Thrive (CRCNA)

A partner in prevention - PreventConnect has offered these resources as well:

Equitable Community Engagement in the Time of Social Distancing: https://www.saferoutespartnership.org/blog/equitable-community-engagementtime-social-distancing

Leading Groups Online: A Down-and-Dirty Guide to Leading Online Courses, Meetings, Trainings, and Events During the Coronavirus Pandemic:               http://www.leadinggroupsonline.org/ebooks/Leading%20Groups%20On line.pdf

Preventing Violence in Our Homes: Meeting this moment with connection, care, and justice http://www.preventconnect.org/2020/04/preventing-violence-in-ourhomes-meeting-this-moment-with-connection-care-and-justice/

Let’s Connect: Preventing Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence During a Pandemic http://www.preventconnect.org/2020/03/lets-connect-sexual-andintimate-partner-violence-prevention-during-a-pandemic/ 

We've had some feedback about this webinar from those who felt that not enough attention was paid to the harm done by narcissism, especially church leaders. Just a note here - This webinar focused on the person with narcissistic tendencies, and less focus was given to those who have been victimized. It's valuable, with a prevention focus, to look at what needs to happen within those who have narcissistic tendencies, to stop the behavior and prevent future harm. That does not negate the need to understand the deep and often devastating effects of those who have been on the receiving end of this behavior. Both those who are harmed, and those who cause harm require healing in their inner being. And it may be a long and painful journey. The Church has a role to play, if we want our churches to be healing places that reveal God's transforming power. Safe church has heard many, many stories over the years of devastation caused by those with narcissistic tendencies, including church leaders. To help people understand these impacts, we've gathered a series of blogs/stories. It's called S.O.S. Sharing our Stories, you can find them here on The Network. 

In addition, we've received feedback about other resources and links to other sites. This one features several articles, that may be helpful, Biblical Perspectives on Narcissism. While the Bible does not specifically refer to “narcissism” –  which takes its name from Greek mythology – it does speak to the subject. 

We appreciate the feedback, and hope that this webinar can be a first step, or a starting point for further discussion about this important and timely topic.

Throughout The Book of Forgiveness, Desmond Tutu and his daughter offer a number of activities that help you understand their discussion on forgiveness. An interesting one is carrying a rock with you for a week that represents the issue you are struggling with to find forgiveness for. If you are creative and enjoy journaling about life, this is a great book - they offer lots of ideas for this!

Safe Church has gathered additional resources specifically addressing abuse of power by clergy and ministry leaders. We're always glad to see people using resources that we've posted - and please don't hesitate to contact us if we can be of further service regarding ideas for using any of these resources in your own context.

It was a great webinar! (Power With and Power Through ...)  So thought provoking - and the ideas expressed about a partnership model of power have really stuck with me.

Yes, thank you for sharing your story so that more of us can learn and take the right steps in the future. 

Also, we wanted to note that in a situation like this Safe Church Ministry would advise putting the Advisory Panel Process into place so that the church council holding the credentials can make an informed decision to carry out discipline.

This is the case, even if the assault happened outside of a church or if the person is "retired" - they still hold the positional authority that comes with being a retired Minister of the Word - and a church still carries their credentials and upholds that they have been faithfully adhering in doctrine and life to the Word of God as interpreted by our Forms of Unity and the Church Order.