When Child Abuse Comes To Church

For parents, church leaders, and anyone who provides care for children. How to safeguard young lives from sexual abuse.

On Guard offers churches eight strategies for preventing child abuse and three for responding to it, helping to move church staff and leaders beyond fearful awareness to prayerful preparedness.

How do we protect the children in our Christian community from sexual offenders? We are becoming more and more aware of the prevalence of child abuse, both in society at large and in the church. We want to protect children in our community from abuse, but we don't always know the best ways to go about that. From his years of experience as ...

Power has a God-given role in human relationships and institutions, but it can lead to abuse when used in unhealthy ways. Speaking into current #MeToo and #ChurchToo conversations, this book shows that the body of Christ desperately needs to understand the forms power takes, how it is abused, and how to respond to abuses of power. Although many Christians want to prevent abuse in their churches and organizations, they lack a deep and clear-eyed understanding of how power actually works. Internationally recognized psychologist Diane Langberg offers a clinical and theological framework for understanding how power operates, the effects of the abuse of power, and how power can be redeemed and restored to its proper God-given place in relationships and institutions. This book not only helps Christian leaders identify and resist abusive systems but also shows how they can use power to protect the vulnerable in their midst.

ÐAs my father abused me he quoted Bible verses to show how bad I was. ÐEach Sunday I'd go to church with my family and hear that God loved me and was watching over me. Then we'd go home and I'd get abused again and wonder why God didn't protect me from these people who went to church. --anonymous survivors This book by a psychotherapist specializing in sexual abuse confronts harsh realities. But Dr. Heggen also offers hope that confronting broken sexuality will bring healing--for survivors of abuse, for perpetrators, for the church.

Is your church prepared to care for individuals who have experienced various forms of abuse? As we continue to learn of more individuals experiencing sexual abuse, domestic violence, and other forms of abuse, it’s clear that resources are needed to help ministries and leaders care for these individuals with love, support, and in cooperation with civil authorities. This handbook seeks to help the church take a significant step forward in its care for those who have been abused. Working in tandem with the Church Cares resources and videos, this handbook brings together leading evangelical trauma counselors, victim advocates, social workers, attorneys, batterer interventionists, and survivors to equip pastors and ministry leaders for the appropriate initial responses to a variety of abuse scenarios in churches, schools, or ministries. Though the most comprehensive training is experienced by using this handbook and the videos together, readers who may be unable to access the videos can use this handbook as a stand-alone resource.

Many unsuspecting and unprepared churches have been financially and spiritually destroyed by child molestation within the church ministries and the resulting litigation. Written by an experienced lawyer, this handbook provides help to any church dealing with these issues.

The hard truth is that no church or faith-based community is immune to having child abuse happen within its church families. Breaking the Silence will educate you about the realities of child abuse and why many victims blame God for abuse, have a misguided understanding of who He is, and walk away from God and the church. It is time for the church to be educated about child abuse and take a stand to support victims. Child abuse includes physical, sexual, and verbal abuse as well as neglect and living in domestic violence. The majority of child abuse is perpetrated by someone in the victim’s family or someone the victim has a close relationship with. Go into the life of victims and learn how they are impacted their entire life by those who abuse them. The ACE study is an eye-opening reality check of the lasting effects of child abuse on victims. Abuse within the family system keeps most victims quiet. Victims feel alone and isolated. This isolation affects every relationship the victim has, now and in the future, especially their relationship with God. It is time for the faith community to be actively involved in helping victims of child abuse. Child abuse is a crime committed against the very children God has entrusted to us. This is not about protecting the church or maintaining family unity. It is about helping people thrive and live the life God intended for them. This can only happen when the church steps up and is willing to face the reality of the brokenness within many of its church families. There is a desperate, silent cry from millions of victims just waiting for someone to notice them, believe them, and help them heal. Breaking the Silence is written as a call to educate the church, but it is loaded with information anyone will find useful. Everyone needs to know and understand the realities of child abuse. Whether you know it or not, abuse is happening in your town, in your neighborhood, and possibly in your own home. We tend to remain silent about things we do not understand. It is time to break the silence.

Jesus was the descendant of sexually exploited women, narrowly survived a child homicide, and grew up to be the world's most prominent defender of children. Jesus reserved his harshest words for those who abused or neglected children and went so far as to say our treatment of children says everything about our view of God. Although the early church took this message to heart and distinguished itself by its treatment of children, this message has been distorted or ignored by many modern Christian leaders. As a result, the church has often failed to protect children from abuse and, in many instances, has contributed to their maltreatment. In this insightful book, Christian theologian and internationally recognized child abuse expert Victor Vieth examines the role of Jesus' life and teachings in reducing child abuse in the New Testament world. Vieth urges Christians to once again take seriously everything Jesus had to say about children. Using the teachings of Jesus as a blueprint, Vieth sets forth a proposal for church reform to prevent many cases of abuse, improve the pastoral care of survivors of abuse, and witness to the world that Christian faith shows itself in service to children.