Dealing With Child Abuse in the Church

Dear Ministry Leader,

Let me tell you a story. The pastor of a Bible-believing church was preparing a sermon for his congregation for Sunday. One of his elders came to his office for their weekly prayer meeting. In the midst of their prayer time together the elder broke down, confessing that he had inappropriately touched one of the teens in the youth group. His story was heart breaking, as he shared that he himself had been abused as a child. After praying together for God to work in the heart of the elder and for forgiveness and grace, the elder left.

The questions started to swirl as the pastor prayed for the wisdom to know what he should do now.

Should he contact the family of the teen?

Should he discuss the issue further with the elder?

Can he share the situation with the elder board?

Does he have any legal responsibility to address the issue outside of the church community?

The pastor had no idea where to begin. Do you?

In a desire to help you learn how to address these issues, CCEF invites you to join us for our Child Abuse and Mandated Reporting in the Church Seminar led by CCEF counselor and faculty member Julie Lowe. The seminar will be held on Thursday, September 27th on CCEF’s campus from 1:00 - 3:00pm.

The cost of the seminar is $25. Please email Joel Bassett at jbassett@ccef.org for more information and to reserve your place by Monday, September 24th. Seats are limited and will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

We hope you can join us! 

Blessings,

Cecelia Bernhardt
Director of Counseling

Julie Lowe, M.A., L.P.C., is Associate Faculty at CCEF and has been counseling for over 13 years. Julie has extensive experience with foster and adoptive families, as well as child maltreatment issues. She speaks at events regarding women's issues, parenting, and conflict resolution.

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ccef.org/blog/feed on 18 September 2012