JACKSONVILLE, Fla.(ABP) — What can churches do to prevent clergy sex-abuse and break the pattern of recycling abusers? Even among activists and experts, there is no consensus about the steps to be taken. Here are some steps on which many experts agree:
— A ministerial code of ethics. Doctors, lawyers and counselors have it. And so do most ministers, but not most Baptists, although the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission worked with an ethics committee to develop a “covenant of trust” for minsters and congregations. Without the ability to withdraw ordination, participation is voluntary and enforcement impossible. But it’s a start.
— Seminary training. It seems like a no-brainer: Condition Baptist ministers early to avoid moral compromise. But “ministerial ethics is rarely taught in our seminaries, although this area has become a major issue in church life,” said Joe Trull, an ethicist who previously taught at an SBC seminary.
— Church-approved policies. What to do with an accusation? Who does an investigation? What about a leave of absence for the accused? How do you treat an accuser? Unless it’s in writing, a congregation will resort to self-protection — and have little legal protection. There are lots of resources and training available to churches, but few take advantage of them. Some conventions offer intervention assistance. But it all starts with a plan.
— Outside help. Form an independent review panel to receive accusations and oversee investigations. Some churches name an outside consultant to lend objectivity. This is not the church’s lawyer, however, since his or her duty is to protect the church.
“Local churches are not capable of handling abuse allegations on their own, and they shouldn’t have to,” said Christa Brown, a lawyer and sex-abuse activist whose story of molestation has brought unwanted national attention to the Southern Baptist Convention. Brown leads a Baptist-directed campaign for the Catholic-focused SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
“Churches are like families, and the dynamics of clergy sex abuse are very similar to the dynamics of incest,” she said. “No one would expect Grandma to have to decide whether much-loved Uncle Joe fondled little Suzy. Grandma isn’t capable of objectively considering it. In the same way, most congregations are not capable of objectively considering whether their much-loved and much-trusted minister might actually be someone who molested a kid.”
The denomination can provide outside consultants to troubled churches without violating congregational autonomy, Brown said.
“Southern Baptists need the resource of an independent review board to which people can safely report abuse or suspicions of abuse,” she said. “Even when a review board has no actual authority over a church, it can still serve a very valuable function in providing a mechanism for informing congregations and for bringing abuse into the light of day.”
— Reporting abuse. It’s the law. Church leaders have to tell law-enforcement officials when they learn of sex abuse. But they don’t have to tell fellow church members — and often they don’t. Usually the reason cited is a need for confidentiality. But that only benefits the accused and forces the victim to shoulder the burden alone, advocates and counselors say.
“Churches make it the victim’s job (to expose abuse) because nobody else has the guts to do it, in virtually every case,” Dee Ann Miller, a mental-health nurse who herself was abused by a Southern Baptist missionary, said. “It is a sad commentary on those who are selected as leaders in the kingdom of God.”
Miller stressed the difference between secrecy and confidentiality. “To not be up-front about the general nature of allegations is secrecy,” she said. “To protect the victim’s identity in order to prevent embarrassment or retaliation is confidentiality.”
Congregations must encourage victims to talk, counselors say, whether to expose abusers or simply to heal.
“Far too often, we see exactly the opposite — victims who attempt to speak up are treated with hostility by church and denominational leaders, and also by congregants,” Brown said. “Clergy-abuse victims can readily see that climate of hostility.”
Some people argue confidentiality protects victims. But Trull says forcing victims into silence is worse than public embarrassment. “What is more embarrassing than being sexually abused?” he argued.
When abuse is uncovered, churches and their lawyers often rely on confidentiality agreements — usually paired with financial settlements — to keep unsavory details out of public view.
But Miller said there should never be a settlement that silences the victim. Indeed, new Catholic canon law prohibits confidentiality clauses unless requested by the abuse victim.
Confidentiality agreements are “a travesty,” Brown added. “Speaking personally, I would suggest that it is a tactic that resists the movement of God’s Spirit, who might indeed work for healing and justice if Southern Baptists weren’t setting up so many roadblocks.”
— Abuser database. Listing abusers on the Internet? The public is used to criminal predator lists in the secular world. But critics say they are inappropriate and unsavory for churches and denominations, not to mention a legal liability issue. In a realm where guilt is difficult to prove, and innocence is sometimes harder, what level of certainty is sufficient? Do you list only the convicted? Or do you include the indicted, the accused, and those who confess or settle out of court?
SNAP’s stopbaptistpredators.com shows names and photos of Southern Baptist ministers “convicted, confessed or credibly accused.” That practice is “consistent with what Catholics are doing,” Brown pointed out. “Over 700 priests have now been removed from ministry, and most have never been convicted of anything.”
With convictions still rare, advocates say keeping the merely accused off the list is neither an adequate strategy nor necessary to preserve a presumption of innocence. Critics worry aggressive measures like the abuser database stack the deck against those falsely accused. But victims’ groups insist fabricated cases are exceedingly rare — less than 1 percent among child accusers, reports Darkness to Light.
“Even if (Baptist leaders) can’t actually remove men from ministry, they could at least take on the obligation to inform people in the pews when there is information about a minister reported for molesting a kid,” Brown said. “To keep that kind of information a secret from parents is unconscionable.”
-30-
— This story is part of a six-part series on clergy sex-abuse.