Matthew 18:5-6 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf[a] is welcoming me. 6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
Today’s topic is hard to talk about, and even harder to acknowledge that it exists! Sexual Abuse is by far more common than we want to believe, yet it destroys so many lives. And the Church is not addressing this issue even though it is very common in the Church.
Robin Campbell is a survivor of sexual abuse and a Certified Trainer with MinistrySafe, an organization whose mission is to protect children and those who serve them. Robin says, sexual abuse is not just physical. A child can also be abused verbally and visually through social media, texting, showing a child pornography. Sexual abuse cuts across all demographics, geographics, denominations, social economics and races. 100% of our Churches are impacted by sexual abuse. Yes, 100%!
Robin says, as of September 16, 2024 there are 68 million sexual abuse survivors in the United States. Every 69 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted in the US and every 9 minutes, that victim is a child. Also, only 25 out of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison. The numbers she sites show that this problem is far greater than anyone, especially the Church knows. It is imperative, and now even the LAW to report sexual abuse. Robin says, We need to be Proactive – Be the Gatekeeper!
There is a way to help the victims of sexual abuse and a way to help the Church that becomes vulnerable to liability & lawsuits, and certainly a way to help the many victims of sexual abuse. Robin mentioned “Protect My Ministry” and “MinistrySafe”. Robin is a trainer at MinistrySafe which is Co-Founded and directed by Gregory Love. They are civil trial attorneys with more than 60 years combined experience addressing child sexual abuse issues. MinistrySafe is, and has always been, victim-centric in approach. They will work with your church or ministry providing comprehensive training, screening forms, sample policies and an online system to track preventative protocols.
You can receive more information on their website: https://ministrysafe.com
Robin ends her interview with 2 things: she says, “Not our children!, Not in our churches! Not on out watch!” And very importantly, if a child, or anyone comes to you and says they were sexually abused, the BEST THING you can say to that person is “I Believe You”.
As always, you can hear this interview in its entirety on wcno.com on the On Demand link or CLICK HERE