Responding to Sexual Abuse 2

This week we’re looking at how to respond to the epidemic of childhood sexual abuse. Sadly, one of the complaints heard most often about Christians and the church is that we ignore the problem of sexual abuse, or sometimes even deny its existence. The consequences of our ignorance and irresponsibility are great. We wind up ignoring the need to develop effective and responsible preventive and redemptive responses. Fortunately, the growing pervasiveness of sexual abuse has caused many churches to wake up and establish protective policies for the church, their children’s ministry, and youth group. What, is your church doing? Work to implement policies and training that will reduce the risk of making it easy to put kids into the hands of sexual predators. Screen your volunteers. Require interviews and background checks. Implement oversight and accountability standards.