Earle Fisher will note in a guest column this Saturday, “One of the most prevalent and plausible critiques of the faith community is that when it comes to matters of sexual abuse and domestic violence, the church practices ‘sacred silence.’ ”

Do you agree? What can we do to provide a safe place for dialogue regarding these matters? Please share any initiatives/programs your faith community is involved in to address these matters.

In response to sins of sexual abuse by clergy against minors and youth, the Catholic Church established in 2005 (revised in 2011) the U.S. Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. It covers policies on reaching out to victims of sexual abuse and their families; providing a secure environment for young people in our churches; prompt response to allegations of sexual abuse by clergy or other church personnel; removal of clergy from ministry if sexual abuse is proven; and formation of seminarians. Each diocese now has an Office for Child Protection to promote awareness of child sexual abuse. Among its provisions is a course in recognizing the habits of sex abusers, which is required for all clergy and for every lay person who works with children. We are working hard to repair the damage done to children, loss of trust by Catholics in their leadership and the perception of the church in the wider community, and to prevent any further occurrence of child sexual abuse.

Earle Fisher will note in a guest column this Saturday, “One of the most prevalent and plausible critiques of the faith community is that when it comes to matters of sexual abuse and domestic violence, the church practices ‘sacred silence.’ ”

Do you agree? What can we do to provide a safe place for dialogue regarding these matters? Please share any initiatives/programs your faith community is involved in to address these matters.

Sadly, sexual abuse and domestic violence are growing problems in our country and, therefore, in our churches. As pastors, it is obviously crucial that we teach regularly on how to live in godly family relationships and that we be prepared to intervene in special cases. At Second Presbyterian, we handle these and other weighty issues through our shepherding ministries, which involve scores of men and women trained to care for our members in times of need. We also collaborate with the Christian Psychological Center, a ministry affiliated with Second Presbyterian Church, who has a staff of trained therapists to help in difficult cases. Many churches in our community make use of their services.

Earle Fisher will note in a guest column this Saturday, “One of the most prevalent and plausible critiques of the faith community is that when it comes to matters of sexual abuse and domestic violence, the church practices ‘sacred silence.’ ”

Do you agree? What can we do to provide a safe place for dialogue regarding these matters? Please share any initiatives/programs your faith community is involved in to address these matters.

“Sacred cow” is the proverbial idiom I would use to describe matters of sexual and domestic abuse, which faith communities fail to bring to the forefront. I feel safe in saying the great grandparents, especially great grandmothers, of domestically abused persons wouldn’t dare broach the subject. And, if it were discussed it would serve as a disadvantage to the victim, more often than not the female person in the relationship.

The daughter or granddaughter would be warned not to do whatever she had done to cause the abuse. It remains as much a fact today as it has for many, many decades ago that faith organizations are generally silent regarding the matter aforementioned, because these same grandparents emerged from faith communities that have embraced the same characteristic.

This certainly does not suggest no one speaks out today. However, what it does say is by and large faith organizations have not engaged in salient conversations that echo eminently throughout each community.

I could name several church leaders that have and still do convene others to not only discuss, but also to combat this atrocity. A case in point is Dr. Rosalyn “Roz” Nichols who, following the death of a childhood friend killed as a result of domestic violence, organized the nonprofit A More Excellent Way, Inc. in 1998. Dr. Nichols is committed to raising awareness and engaging in eliminating relationship abuses.

Earle Fisher will note in a guest column this Saturday, “One of the most prevalent and plausible critiques of the faith community is that when it comes to matters of sexual abuse and domestic violence, the church practices ‘sacred silence.’ ”

Do you agree? What can we do to provide a safe place for dialogue regarding these matters? Please share any initiatives/programs your faith community is involved in to address these matters.

I agree.

A great impediment to a church’s addressing sexual abuse and domestic violence within its own ranks is the widely held view that it’s suppose to be a community where everyone has his/her moral act together. Nothing could be further from the truth. The church is made up of humans, each of whom is a mixture of virtue and depravity (see David Brooks’s column in the March 21, 2012 edition of the Commercial Appeal, buttressed by the insights of great thinkers like John Calvin, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis). In fact, the church exists by forgiveness of sins. And until church members grasp that their community is based not on virtue but forgiveness with its opportunity for personal amendment, they’re hard put to own up to the dark realities that haunt them. So, the “sacred silence.”

To break the pattern of secrecy and cover-up, the church can debunk the notion that we’re a people above moral corruption and challenge everyone of us to contemplate the evil in ourselves. Such a step would serve to open the door to a safe place for dialogue regarding matters of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

Earle Fisher will note in a guest column this Saturday, “One of the most prevalent and plausible critiques of the faith community is that when it comes to matters of sexual abuse and domestic violence, the church practices ‘sacred silence.’ ”

Do you agree? What can we do to provide a safe place for dialogue regarding these matters? Please share any initiatives/programs your faith community is involved in to address these matters.

Many years ago we hired a new doctor to provide prenatal care for women at our South Third Street clinic. He was young and earnest, with a middle class upbringing. Early in his time with us he encountered unmarried pregnant teenagers who, he learned, had been impregnated by men older than 18. The first time it happened, he called the police to the clinic, believing that he had uncovered a case of statutory rape. That case involved a 16 year old, pregnant by her 19 year old boyfriend. The police left after the girl reported that her sexual relationship was consensual and that her mother was fully aware of the pregnancy. After the third time our doctor called the police for similar cases, they sternly advised him to stop wasting their time.

Sexual exploitation has happened at all times and in all cultures. The inner city’s tragic combination of broken families, alcohol and substance abuse, and poverty have made various forms of sexual exploitation particularly common. Our social and political institutions that should guard women and children from exploiters have been weakened or refuse to perform their duties: law enforcement, courts, schools, community organizations, and, especially, churches. In truth, sexual exploitation often happens within churches, even sometimes by church leaders. We read regularly about school teachers or pastors who use their positions to sexually prey on the very people they’re charged to guide and protect.

And we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg. My young doctor friend was shocked by young women who willingly (their true “freedom” in these exchanges is suspect) engaged in sexual relationships with older men. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that in years of medical practice, I’ve come to understand that a large percentage of urban girls and boys, maybe even a majority, are coerced into their first sexual experiences by men. Too often those men are family members, youth leaders, pastors, or teachers who should be protecting them.

And so there is silence– silence that protects the exploiters at the cost of the exploited. I’ve seen firsthand how this secrecy does immeasurable harm to individuals and causes multi-generational damage to our community.

The faith community has the potential to lead in addressing this epidemic. We must be truth tellers, not suppressors, in our larger community. That means drawing attention to the crisis of sexual exploitation–fulfilling our prophetic office. That’s not where the church should start, however. As the apostle Peter said, “it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household…” (1 Peter 4:17). We have tolerated and covered up this grave injustice within the church, Catholic and Protestant, for too long. Repentance must necessarily come first from within the church and from its leadership. Then, after we have turned from our own sin, we can offer meaningful assistance to our neighbors.

Earle Fisher will note in a guest column this Saturday, “One of the most prevalent and plausible critiques of the faith community is that when it comes to matters of sexual abuse and domestic violence, the church practices ‘sacred silence.’ ”

Do you agree? What can we do to provide a safe place for dialogue regarding these matters? Please share any initiatives/programs your faith community is involved in to address these matters.

Dr. Fisher nails it when he writes about the church practicing “sacred silence,” though I would argue that the silence is anything but sacred. It is a profane silence.

Last year one of our associates, Anne Apple, preached a sermon on the rape of Tamar, something that most had never heard addressed from the pulpit. The pastoral response was immediate and stunning. It led to stories being told in the confidence of the pastoral offices, and of deep gratitude for opening up a biblical story that was their story.  She helped us to see that up to 30-40% of girls (and 13% of boys) will be the victim of sexual abuse by the time they are 18. We begin the healing by giving voice to those who have not had a voice.

But there are more than just pastoral responses to be made. It surprised me to learn that the average prison sentence for killing’s one wife is 6 years, compared to 16.5 years for killing one’s husband. And yes, this is related to the erosion of women’s rights across the country. 

We give voice to the voiceless, we speak the truth, we don’t hide behind scriptures for our abuse of women, and we engage in the political process.  We attempt to do all of that at Idlewild.