We are glad you have found us. We here at Building Safe Places are here to provide you with a variety of resources from different perspectives to help you navigate instances of abuse and their repercussions in our congregations and communities. We provide materials designed to fit the needs of the many roles held by members of our Seventh-day Adventist world community: pastors, volunteer church leaders, church administrators, congregational members, partners of pastors, and partners and family members of victims. You will find that some of these resources can be helpful to all of these groups and can be found in each section.
Pastors
When there is suspected or reported sexual abuse in your congregation, the weight of pastoral responsibilities often feels overwhelming. It is our hope that we can support you by offering materials we have gathered and created during our work and experiences. The resources in this section are intended to give you support and to help you support your vulnerable congregants and walk alongside them. These materials will help you build a team, make reports, handle the emotional and spiritual fallout, and lead toward healing.
Board Members, Elders, and Ministry Leaders
You may have never expected to find sexual abuse in your congregation. We know these reports can cause anger, confusion, sadness, denial, and grief. You might be grappling with questions such as: What are or are not my responsibilities? What are the best ways for me to support the members of my church community? How do I navigate confidentiality issues?This section is designed to offer you specific information to help you navigate this unexpected community trauma.
Church Administrators
Sexual abuse is one of the most stressful circumstances to address when you are a regional or national church administrator. We know it is difficult to prioritize the protection of the victim as well as the reputation of the institution. This is a delicate balancing act with many pitfalls. Here we offer guidelines to help you start the discussion in your organization and resources that will help you understand and address the layers of reaction you will encounter: grief, anger, denial, accusations, confusion, etc. We have experts available to help you when you have questions.
Members of the Church Community
The issue of sexual abuse within faith communities is real. It is important as a member of a local church to understand your role in protecting the vulnerable. To that end, this section will help you recognize the signs of abuse, know how to engage with church leaders when you see or suspect abuse, and missteps to avoid when a situation of abuse arises. It is difficult to manage the uncertainty and disappointment you experience when you are in the congregation and not part of the process yourself. These resources will help you prayerfully honor confidentiality, heal, and support others as they do the same. We have leaders with experience available to help you when you have questions.
Partners of pastors
When sexual abuse is reported within a congregation or church ministry, such as Pathfinders, the spouse or partner of a pastor is in a nearly impossible situation. You have the news. It would be normal for you to have a wide range of conflicting feelings. It is normal to feel a sense of helplessness. Many partners have a desire to be supportive. Many feel torn between the needs of the pastor and the needs of the congregation.
Because it is common to have even physical symptoms when faced with such a stressful event, we are including a critical incident document that will give detailed lists of the ways our brains may react to the report of sexual abuse in our congregation and ways to deal with those responses. That document includes tactics that will help you care for yourself and others. We also have an article that describes some of the specific issues Seventh-day Adventists face when confronted with sexual abuse.
Our team therapist and pastors have years of experience dealing with sexual abuse inside the Adventist church. They are available to answer your questions and provide you support.
Partners and family members of Victims
As the family member of a victim of sexual abuse, it is normal to experience a wide range of feelings and reactions. You could be feeling anger at the victim, the abuser, the community that allowed it, the person who reported it, and the people who didn’t want to report the sexual abuse. That anger is normal. You could be feeling grief at the loss of innocence for the victim. You may be overwhelmed and confused about possible options available to your family member. You may not know their legal rights. And it is rare to know how a congregation will deal with sexual abuse in its midst. People surprise you in both directions.
This section includes a critical incident document that describes physical, emotional, and psychological reactions to traumatic events and a chapter about how Seventh-day Adventists often react to sexual abuse. We also have a therapist and pastors with whom you can talk.