Penn State lessons as catalyst for change
By Linda Crockett
No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders. You will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. Isaiah 60:18 (NIV)
The tragedy at Penn State could have – and should have – been prevented. Our focus in the faith community at this moment should turn from “Monday morning quarterbacking” about the bad calls of Penn State officials to looking deeply at our own practices in the congregation to determine what needs to change in light of the terrible, but valuable, lessons from Penn State. It’s about Penn State – but it is so much bigger than that.
Sexual Abuse of Children
Children are at greater risk for sexual abuse than almost any of the other things we routinely educate them about – how to safely swim, cross the street or stay away from promiscuity, alcohol and drugs. Numerous studies show that at least one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. And 85% are abused by someone in their circle of trust such as a family member, coach, teacher, church leader, neighbor and babysitter. The offender is one of us – which makes this issue incredibly difficult and heart rending. If a victim does not receive appropriate help, the impact can last for a decade and include medical, psychological and social consequences.
Less well understood are the spiritual consequences. Maya Angelou, the award-winning poet and educator who was herself sexually abused as a child, is credited with remarking that abuse “takes a child who knows nothing, and turns her into a child that believes nothing.” I have talked with countless adult survivors who continue to struggle with issues of forgiveness; with molested children who feel abandoned or punished by God; and with victims of incest despairing over the commandment to honor father and mother when a parent becomes a rapist. It is difficult to feel connected to God if you are being sexually abused by someone at home, at school, or in the church itself.
Education and Mission
Learning about how we can prevent child sexual abuse is one of the most critical ministries in which a faith community should be engaged. Every congregation should hold at least one adult education session every year about an aspect of child sexual abuse, including the grooming process offenders use to engage children. Adult education empowers parents, grandparents - anyone who has a child they want to keep safe from sexual exploitation. In this way, child protection from sexual abuse becomes “missional.”
Laity education also “opens up the space” and gives permission to survivors to tell their stories and seek healing. Unless we talk about this issue most will remain silent. Ask your pastor if she/he ever receives disclosures of abuse. If the answer is “no,” your church has not done its job in creating the conditions that allow people to come forward and disclose what happened to them.
Each congregation must grapple with how the abuse of power represented by child sexual abuse violates not only the child but the community covenant we make with each other. And every congregational, judicatory and denominational official needs to own up to the reality that it is also a grave abuse of power to hold it, and not use it proactively in order to protect the most vulnerable among us. To fail to use our power for good is also a sin.
Safe Church as Ministry
The “safe church” sees itself as a sanctuary, where one finds protection, security, support, guidance and the presence of God. We recommend that any congregation desiring to claim the words of the prophet Isaiah (60:18) move through an intentional process to create and annually renew its Safe Sanctuaries or other “safe church” policy.
A safe church policy should be created over a period of time that also includes developing a theological framework to describe how protecting children is a core part of your mission and community covenant. Each congregation must struggle to articulate its unique understanding of why this is important. A policy not developed by the people will easily become a “dead thing” - a document that sits on a shelf and allows us to feel we can check the box on having complied with our responsibility.
It is way past time we stop wringing our hands, and take action. Let us use the tragic lessons from Penn State as our catalyst for change… and may our communities of faith be in the forefront of prevention, rather than “in the news” for failure to protect. We’ve been there, and done that. Let’s move forward together to make Isaiah’s vision a reality.
Linda Crockett is Director of Clergy & Congregation Care, Samaritan Counseling Center, Lancaster, Pa.
To learn more about her ministry with congregations developing safe church policies, see www.scclanc.org.
