Predators in the Pew: Protecting Against Child Abuse in Your Church

Jonathan was sick to his stomach. No pastor ever wants to see a child hurt. Yet his church was facing a lawsuit over sexual abuse that recently occurred in their children's ministry. He was bogged down with conversations with a lawyer, shepherding the distraught families in his congregation, feeling guilt over his failed leadership, and trying to hold things together. In his own words, Jonathan said, "It felt like a bomb just went off and I'm cleaning up the mess."

"Jimmy" was a friendly man who had joined First Baptist Church about a year ago. He was kind, and the members of First Baptist took a quick liking to him. He volunteered to teach a Sunday school class and got to know "Peter," an 8-year-old boy. Things started innocently. A hug at the end of class. Gifts for Peter. Lots of extra attention.

And then it happened. Jimmy took advantage of Peter. He made Peter keep it a secret. Peter cried a lot over the next few days (which was not like him), and eventually his mother got the secret out of him. She contacted the pastor immediately, but the church made excuses. She was so outraged that she sued the church.

When Churches Fail Our Kids

Sadly this is an all-too-familiar story. If you pay any attention to the news, you know that sexual offenders show up in churches. Like predators hurting defenseless prey, they do unspeakably horrible things to our children. Much could be prevented, but many churches do not know how to protect their children and how to respond when child sex abuse happens. It all adds up to being irresponsible with the littlest ones that God has entrusted to our care.

Why do churches fail our kids?    Continue at Deepak Reju

Let's Talk About Sex

What's happening at Penn State is crushing. It's a lose-lose. These children have already been abused and the way the university is handling the situation and the way the students are reacting only appear to be heaping shame upon shame. It's a time for all of us to grieve for these children and cry out to God for justice. 

However, there is a much larger question at stake: how should what happened at Penn State affect the way we handle reports of abuse in the church? I've seen two solutions so far:

1. we should immediately change our policies whether church or otherwise so that all abuse is immediately reported to the police and then reported to the proper higher ups
2. we should use diligence before proceeding to protect the reputation of those who may be falsely accused.

Justin Taylor offers both perspectives in his article How the Penn State Scandal Changes Our World. I'm sensitive to both for two reasons. I'm sensitive to the first because I am a father of two daughters in a culture where over 66% of people are sexually abused in some fashion. However, I'm sensitive to the second  because we live in our culture of lawsuits and revenge and I personally know of someone who is listed on the sexual predator list because he (over 18) gave someone (under 18) a wedgie. The parents were out for blood because of their sons hurt pride. We must protect our children from sexual abuse and we must protect innocent people from being branded as sexual predators who are not. Both scenarios are grievous offense.   Keep Reading   >>>