Ensuring Christian communities are safe, empowering
Among Canadian adults who’ve had an intimate partner, 44% of women and 36% of men report having experienced abuse, according to a 2018 Statistics Canada report.
Abuse takes many forms. It can be one incident or a pattern. The report uses categories including emotional/psychological/financial (42% women, 34% men), physical (23% women, 16% men) and sexual (11% women, 2% men).
Like other types of traumatic experiences, abuse can result in a psychological wound that does not heal. And it is particularity damaging when it has a religious aspect.
Spiritual abuse often involves the misuse of spiritual authority, theology, Scripture or religious practices to manipulate, control, silence, marginalize or dominate. Some studies suggest one in three Americans are now reporting having experienced religious harms and abuses. Abuse in our Christian communities complicates suffering, and can hinder human potential and healing.
Spiritual abuse often involves the misuse of spiritual authority, theology, Scripture or religious practices to manipulate, control, silence, marginalize or dominate.
We can address these harms by articulating and practising healthy principles within Christian communities. Failure to address abuse causes some people to not feel safe and exit religious spaces quietly. Addressing abuse well includes ensuring safety to tell, be heard well and have confidence in the leadership to resolve harms appropriately.
Children, women and vulnerable adults are particularly susceptible to overt and subtle forms of abuse. They are harmed when dismissed, excluded, marginalized, silenced, blamed, targeted or made unwelcome, either by leaders, peers or community structures.
Responding well requires board, staff and volunteer education. This goes beyond having plans to protect minors, protocols for workplace harassment and safety, and grief groups – as absolutely necessary as these are.
A Christian community’s ethos and attitudes, not just the leadership structure, impact the willingness to discuss harms, abuses and trauma, and how we respond to victims and perpetrators. What policies are operational in reporting and investigating concerns or offences? Are we confronting or condoning wilful blindness, and compliance to unhealthy and toxic systems or habits?
It’s vital we directly confront harms, abuse and trauma. Many churches and denominations have done so, but for others this needs to become a higher priority.
Some Christian communities have worked hard to prepare protocols and provide training, are continually reviewing what others are doing well and incorporating their learnings – and are willing to share. The EFC hosts an Abuse Awareness and Prevention Network which does just that, and the work is ongoing (TheEFC.ca/AAPN).
Cultivating healthy interpersonal relations for people of all ages is a core expression of Christian discipleship, and providing safe, responsive, caring and empowering spaces is essential to healthy fellowship (1 Peter 4:12–13; Matthew 23:26).
We exercise our faith in the context of a spiritual battle between the kingdoms of darkness and of God. We face scorn and rejection when speaking to the powers and principalities that cause harms, abuses and trauma (Matthew 5:10–12; John 15:18–19; Matthew 10:22; Mark 10:29–30; 2 Timothy 3:12).
Jesus called us to love one another as He loved (John 13:34–35). We are to carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) and not participate in creating them. Even the tongue is described as a weapon of harms – do we have measures in place to abate gossip, slander, blaming victims, and abuses of power or influence? Are distorted half-truths and twisting of Scripture used to silence, shun and oppress? Do we address narcissistic personalities and misogynistic practices?
Jesus Christ experienced grief. Our Lord is acutely aware of the impact of distorted religious beliefs and practices (Isaiah 53:4-9). Jesus beckons all to come into His rest (Matthew 11:28–30). It is critical we ensure our communities are safe and healthy spaces where, with Christ in us, we strive to prevent harms, abuse and trauma, where we process failures well, and nurture healing and healthy fellowship.
Confronting religious trauma and spiritual abuse is a prevention and educational opportunity to come alongside victims, become advocates, and nurture safe and empowering Christian communities. It is our witness, a mandate now and for future generations.
Bruce J. Clemenger is senior ambassador and president emeritus of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Read more of these columns at FaithToday.ca/TheGatheringPlace. Lisez cet article en français sur FaithToday.ca/francais. Photo of child with head in hands: Shutterstock.