We all know that we shouldn’t wait until our house is on fire to purchase insurance on our home. We all know that a will is necessary before we die. But, do you know that most churches do not have any plan to deal with an allegation of child or adult abuse? While no plan is foolproof and almost every abuse allegation contains unique features requiring difficult decision-making, a basic plan usually contains directions for who will make sure plans are carried out and how the church will handle both victim and offender.
Why Don’t Churches Have a Plan?
Maybe one of the reasons many churches fail to have a plan is that they aren’t really convinced a plan is central to the work of the Gospel–as central as a doctrinal statement or the preaching of the Word. Maybe such a plan is seen as a necessary evil like unto car insurance, something you know you should have but are annoyed to pay such a large bill even though you haven’t needed to use the benefit.
2 Better Reasons!
Read my faculty post here over at www.biblical.edu for 2 Gospel reasons why every Christian organization needs an abuse response plan.
Musings on Faith and Psychology 
Helpful and thought provoking, Phil. At a certain level reluctance to draw up a plan is beyond dangerous, it’s outrageous. When peanut allergies can galvanize more response than policies for the abused, it is symptomatic of an unwillingness to face dark realities. It also seems that the lack of profile given to survivors (e.g., testimonies, prayers, sermons, policies, literature) means the disposition of leadership is one of AVOIDANCE (until litigation), rather than APPROACH. As theologian, I’m also aware that, overall, shallow views of suffering, poor anthropology, “victory-only” worship, and a pandering to the unsaved results in squeezing out the abuse narrative as one that scares people away, yet one that is so desperately needed for the wounded–and actually would bring the honest-seeking!
*Here’s what really saddens me: Pastors could jump on the opportunity to address abuse in their church–and craft safety plans–because the Sandusky trial going on in your state…but will they? What an insult to so many survivors in our churches that an adversarial court system excels at naming the problem but offers no forgiveness; while the church has been charged with the ministry of healing (and teaching about forgiveness), but struggles to even name this ancient sin. I’ve seen better messages against abuse on posters at bus stops! Why?!?
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