12 Questions You Should Ask Your Pastors
If a pastor argues that reporting child sexual abuse is a matter of personal judgment, the congregation has the biblical duty to ask further questions. It is essential not only to ascertain whether it’s safe to remain at the church but to also ensure that all vulnerable people are protected.
The Danger of Inadequate Child Protection Policies
Inadequate child protection policies are often more dangerous than the absence of a policy because nominal policies allow church members to believe that they are safe when they are actually in grave danger.
An Introduction to Child Liberation Theology
In today’s world that sees children as having no rights themselves, but rather sees parents as almighty rulers over their property, Jesus’s point stands out. By lifting up children, Jesus really is making the last first. He is making clear that children deserve the same rights, and bear the same value, as adults.
Suffer the Children: Developing Effective Church Policies on Child Maltreatment
Although churches, synagogues, temples and other places of worship are increasingly implementing policies to protect children from abuse, the policies adopted are often inadequate and of limited value. This article includes ten concrete suggestions for faith institutions that will aid in developing and implementing policies more likely to keep children safe.
Victim Blaming in the Church
Victim blaming is the act of holding a person responsible for the harm they have experienced or the crime committed against them. This often looks like attributing blame or responsibility to the victim for their own victimization, rather than the perpetrator or other external factors.
Why we CARE
Child sexual abuse is heinous and tragically common in church settings. Strong evidence suggests that child predators are attracted to churches. Sexual abusers benefit from Christian teachings on repentance and forgiveness; if they’re caught, they can simply performatively express remorse, rely on unwise church practices that grant access to all in the name of grace, and then secretly continue their abuse.
The Quiverfull Families Next Door: Part 4
Because Quiverfull communities like CFC preach patriarchy as the only biblical framework, individuals who challenge the gender hierarchy must be labeled rebellious and sinful.
News Conference: Michelle’s Statement
Church should be a place where children are safe. Where children are protected and where the evils of the world stop at the door. Pastor, elders and leaders are the gate keepers. They have an obligation to protect the least of these. During this divisive political climate it's important to stress that reporting CSA is not now nor has it ever been a political issue.
We are all complicit
One of the most complicated truths to acknowledge is that we have harmed others, yet this is an essential step in the journey to wholeness. There is freedom in acknowledging that we have been complicit in harm. It allows us to seek forgiveness, offer restitution, and find grace for ourselves and for others.
Why we support the CARE Act
The Child Abuse Reporting Expansion (CARE) Act is a proposed New York State law that eliminates the mandated reporting loophole to include members of the clergy.
Counting the Cost
For those of us who still identify as Christians, we understand that our lives are dedicated to Christ. We understand that Christ calls us to seek justice, even when it’s uncomfortable. We understand that our faith often puts us at odds with political parties. Our faith calls us to support the people around us – we help them move with our pick-up trucks and fifteen-passenger vans, we bring meals and take care of their older children when they have a baby, we lend them our generator when their power is out.
But there is a hidden cost that we didn’t count on: the cost of leaving Christian Fellowship Center.
Book Review: A Church Called Tov
In A Church Called Tov, by Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer, it’s all about the root and the soil. It’s all about character and culture and what is allowed to thrive and what is tamped down into compliance and told to hush because ‘we don’t talk about such things,’ ‘that’s gossip’, ‘you need to trust that we as leadership have this in hand.’
This book may not be for everyone, but it’s pretty darn close.
Understanding Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence impacts every community regardless of race, culture, or socioeconomic status. On average, nearly twenty people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. One in four women and one in nine men experience some form of severe intimate partner violence at some point in their life.
Librarians are the best
If you’re interested in a book-length exploration of a certain topic but you don’t have the financial resources to purchase your own book, never fear! The librarians at Potsdam Public Library have purchased many books from our resources list and they can be requested from anywhere in the North County Library System.
Researching the effect of trauma
It is projected that people who have experienced trauma are up to seven times more likely to develop chronic health conditions like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer.
Trauma is more likely to cause health complications even in people who maintain a healthy diet, stay active, and do not indulge in drugs and alcohol. Young people are more at risk for the effects of trauma specifically because our brains are still developing and will not be fully developed until age 25.
I am sorry
People have been reaching out and asking questions and I urge you to do so as well. I would be honored to hear from you and apologize to you face to face. The Truth sets free! Verbalizing your pain to an understanding heart is a good step toward embodying Truth. I will gladly keep you anonymous and protect your vulnerability if you choose to share with me.
Spinning Scripture
A method that leaders in a toxic church culture sometimes use to control the narrative is to attack the way in which critical feedback or allegations of wrongdoing are brought to light. This appeal to Scripture sounds right initially. Following the Bible is a good thing—except for when “following the Bible” is actually not following the Bible.
A reflection on homeschooling and abuse
Homeschooling is not inherently abusive. What it is, inherently, is isolating: something that works to the advantage of abusers both inside and outside the family. Children whose education is limited, whose contact with outside communities is cut off, and whose access to basic resources is often constrained by authority figures who are at once parent, teacher, and spiritual leader, become vulnerable targets for abuse.
The danger of denial
Listening to survivors tell their stories can be uncomfortable, especially if they name abuse that does not seem to align with what you have experienced.
It’s not that bad
When there are child abusers in your midst and the leaders fail to report them, they have basically decided where this sin lands on the spectrum of sinfulness is “not that bad” and have decided to keep their actions and identity secret.