February 28, 2014 Sam Logan: Colleagues in the World Reformed Fellowship, Earlier this week, I attended a series of meetings in New York City which were focused on the sexual abuse of children in religious contexts.

It was an absolutely amazing - and frightening - meeting.

WRF member Basyle (Boz) Tchividjian was one of the hosts of this meeting and it was through Boz that I received an invitation.  You will remember that Boz, a grandson of Billy Graham, is the author of the chapter on “Worship and Children” in our major book, REFORMED MEANS MISSIONAL: FOLLOWING JESUS INTO THE WORLD, and he also wrote our minibook,  Protecting Children from Abuse in the Church: Steps to Prevent and Respond. Since dealing with this and related entire issues is one of the primary initiatives of the WRF, Boz, along with WRF members Diane Langberg and Phil Monroe, will be plenary speakers at our General Assembly in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in March of 2015.

I am writing now just to tell you a bit more about the meeting earlier this week.

Among those who attended were the following:

1.  Boz Tchividjian, Executive Director of GRACE -  www.netgrace.org

2.  Chris Anderson, Executive Director of MaleSurvivor - http://www.malesurvivor.org/

3. Sarah McNamara, Senior Social Worker at The New York Center for Children - http://www.newyorkcenterforchildren.org/

4. Victor Vieth, Executive Director of the National Child Protection Training Center -  http://www.gundersenhealth.org/ncptc

5. Yosef Blau, Machgiach Ruchani at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and President of the Religious Zionists of America - http://www.rza.org/ 

6.  Sally MacNichol, Co-Executive Director of Connect New York - http://www.connectnyc.org/

7. Joseph Cumming, Pastor of the International Church at Yale University and Director of the Yale Reconciliation Program - http://faith.yale.edu/reconciliation-project/reconciliation-program

8.  Norris Chumley, Executive Producer and Host of "Rethinking Religion" a national public radio and podcast series from Columbia University's Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life (www.ircpl.org).

9. Shira Melody Berkovits, Postdoctoral Psychology Fellow at Einstein’s Kennedy Center and Youth Consultant for the Department of Synagogue Services in NYC - http://jofa2013.sched.org/speaker/shira_melody_berkovits.1rgi14wc#.Uwzof6SYYdU

10.  Leo Schuster, WRF member and Lead Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church East Side in New York - http://www.redeemer.com/eastside/

11. Alison Kling, Director of Children's Ministries at Central Presbyterian Church in New York where WRF member Jason Harris is the Senior Pastor -  http://www.centralchurchnyc.org/

Among the things that I should have known (or guessed) but did not (either know OR guess!) were these:

1) Statistics show that approximately 1 of every 6 boys and 1 of every 4 girls are victims of some form of child sexual abuse.  I thought this was primarily a danger experienced by females but FIVE of the men at the meeting described themselves as the victims of childhood sexual abuse, some in religious environments and some in secular environments.

2) Over and over again, it was said (and examples were provided) that the perpetrators of the sexual abuse of children intentionally seek their victims in religious environments because those environments tend to be so “trusting” and “naïve.” 

3) Much is known about sexual abuse in Roman Catholic environments (two of the men were abused as children in Roman Catholic settings) but the problem is just as bad in Protestant environments.  The only difference is that, up until now, Roman Catholic cases of child sexual abuse have gotten more notice in the press. 

4) Nor is this merely a "Christian" problem.  Examples were provided of the depth of the problem in Muslim and Jewish environments.  Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Blau attended the meeting and gave numerous examples of the problem in Jewish environments.  The problem is serious enough that a major conference on the problem of child sexual abuse in Orthodox Jewish environments is being held in Israel next week.  Providentially, Susan and I will be traveling to Israel next week to represent the WRF in several locations and, while we will arrive just as the conference is concluding, Rabbi Blau has shared with me the contact information of the organizer of that conference and we will try to see him while we are in Israel. 

5) Everyone who spoke emphasized over and over again that, whenever the possibility of sexual abuse in a religious environment occurs - whether Protestant or Catholic or Jewish or Muslim -, the first response of the religious community is to circle the wagons in order "to protect the reputation of the religious community."  Incredible examples of this were given.  Even in the face of dramatic physical evidence, the response is either to disbelieve or to blame the victim.  One of the questions often asked at the meeting was some form of this one: “Why is it that, in the case of an accusation of child sexual abuse in a religious environment, the overwhelmingly predominant first reaction is to blame the victim when that is overwhelmingly NOT the first reaction when other types of accusations are made?”

6) One of the speakers at our meeting made this statement which I am quoting directly: "Child abuse not only impacts a child physically and emotionally, but also spiritually. Indeed, child abuse often drives children away from the church even though research suggests that abused children unable to cope spiritually are less likely to cope physically and emotionally."

Of course, the WRF’s mission is to serve primarily evangelical and Reformed Christian churches around the world and many of those at this meeting would not be so categorized.  But we also say that we desire that “The strengths of some might become the strengths of all in the service of Jesus Christ.” If what we learn from meetings like yesterday’s can assist us in strengthening the global evangelical and Reformed church so that we can all more effectively prevent and respond to this problem in our churches (where, unfortunately, these problems do exist), we see such meetings as crucially important. 

Please do continue to pray that the Lord will enable to WRF to be of assistance to those who are working on the front lines of this very difficult battle.

And please plan to join us in Sao Paulo for our 2015 General Assembly where this will be one of numerous critically important topics to be examined from a variety of global Reformed and evangelical perspectives.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me.

Sam

Dr. Samuel Logan International Director The World Reformed FellowshipThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.wrfnet.org