Of all The Network articles floating around in my mind I wanted to write, all important topics for Safe Church Ministry—this is what came out when I sat down to write. It's a hopeful reflection on life with God.
This handy guide to our denominational position statement about abuse, and summary of related church order may be helpful, especially to church councils, in responding to allegations or disclosures of abuse.
Silence is no longer an option. In this watershed #MeToo moment, the Church must be ready to respond to sexual abuse. How will it happen in your classis?
We’ve seen various responses to stories of sexual harassment and abuse, in the political realm and in the celebrity realm. What about in the Church? What will our response be?
A recent article in Christianity Today highlights a few of the reasons why it can be difficult for those who have survived abuse to be in church.
When we find someone with passion for this ministry, we’re quick to label them a “team member.” Join our team! Help us assist the CRC in abuse awareness, prevention, and response.
Three CRC ministries, Race Relations, Disability Concerns, and Safe Church Ministry, are excited to put on a free, four-hour workshop on Sept. 9 that will bring together resources and opportunities to learn from each other. Come!
In contrast to God’s beautiful design, the sex industry takes an incredible gift and uses greed, violence and coercion to exploit God’s image in people and to destroy God’s design for relationship.
What does your congregation do to create safe spaces, where people feel safe enough to share honest struggles and untold stories?
Safe Church Ministry is thrilled to know about, and to let you know about, Hope for the Sold, an organization that works to end sexual exploitation, in part by offering excellent web-based resources.
What a great story!
Thanks Jane for your sensitivity here to those who have experienced abuse. And even though this is an aside, you are absolutely right that the trauma of abuse often has long-lasting effects, and...
Thank you for all the thoughtful comments on this article. When it comes to policies to prevent abuse, a criminal background check is widely considered standard best practice, and many insurers...
Thanks so much for sharing your letter to the editor in this space. Men have a tendency to listen to other men, therefore we need male allies who will speak up against a culture that finds it easy...
Thank you so much Nancy! Many of us were privileged to hear a bit more of your story in person at the Safe Church conference in 2012, and at another safe church event in the Hamilton area in...
I have also listened to two of the segments on NPR Michigan Radio - a part of their series entitled "Believed". It's very good, and so insightful in answering the question of how could this have...
Yes! https://calvin.edu/directory/series/rachael-denhollander
This is an extremely helpful article. Thanks for posting!
It's often in the brokenness, and in the desert places that growth and new life are born. Christ came to suffer and die; we are called to follow him. Sometimes it's in the suffering, and the many...
Thanks Fred! Safe Church is so thankful for the wealth of information that you know and your willingness to share.
