"Safeguarding Against Abuse In The Church"

By Pastor Bruce K. Oyen

Email: bk_oyen@hotmail.com

    Perhaps all of us have heard reports of children being sexually molested by teens or adults. And perhaps we have heard of other abuse that, though hidden for some time, finally comes to light.     Well, the sad fact is, the abusers sometimes are church leaders or other respected church attenders. Sometimes the abuse takes place in church buildings, or at church functions held elsewhere, such as at church camps.

    These facts prove that churches need to take practical steps to help keep such horrible things from being done on their property, or at their functions that are held elsewhere.

    And what about abuse that is not done on church property or at church functions, or by church attenders? In other words, what should we do if, for example, a child says to a  Sunday school teacher that his or her parents are being abusive in some way, but the child's parents don't attend the church? This abuse would include extreme forms of punishment for bad behavior. Such punishment might include not being allowed to eat for a few days, or made to stand out in the cold without wearing a coat and shoes.

    What follows is a link to a brief article about what churches can do to prevent or to deal with these problems. It is worth the few minutes it will take to read it, and the effort it will take to put the suggestions into action. Here's the link: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/gospeldrivenchurch/2012/12/13/safeguarding-against-abuse-in-the-church/. A summary of this article was first read at http://www.edstetzer.com/.