“Any time someone shines a light on the dark pockets of the church throughout history, oftentimes those folks get attacked,” he said. “Either the messengers or the message get attacked. You have ‘the message isn’t true’ or ‘I don’t like the tone of the messenger’ or ‘the messenger is slandering the church.’”

An expert who recently told a group of journalists that evangelicals are worse than Catholics when it comes to reporting sexual abuse by clergy added in a radio interview that he believes that is starting to change.

“There are many positive developments going on, even in the evangelical world,” Boz Tchividjian, a Liberty University law professor and grandson of Billy Graham, said on The Janet Mefferd Show Oct. 7. “The fact that this is being discussed is a huge step forward compared to five years ago.”

Tchividjian, executive director of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), told the Religion Newswriters Association Sept. 26 that while many view clergy abuse as a Catholic problem, Protestants and evangelicals are also prone to discourage the reporting of sexual abuse by labeling it as “gossip” and silencing victims in order to protect the reputation of the church.

Tchividjian said he has gotten pushback to his comments, but that is often the case for individuals who attempt to raise issues that most people would rather not have to address.

“Any time someone shines a light on the dark pockets of the church throughout history, oftentimes those folks get attacked,” he said. “Either the messengers or the message get attacked. You have ‘the message isn’t true’ or ‘I don’t like the tone of the messenger’ or ‘the messenger is slandering the church.’”

Tchividjian said he was recently accused of “slandering innocent Christians because I referred to Protestants as a group and thus implicated innocent Christians.”

“I had a friend of mine write back and tell me, ‘Well does this mean when I pray “Lord because we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves” that I’m slandering those who do actually love their neighbors as themselves?’” he said.

Tchividjian, who in July launched an online petition calling for greater transparency about sexual abuse occurring in evangelical churches, said he sees signs that the message is starting to take hold.

“I was on a phone conference last week with 12 pastors of large churches from around the country who simply wanted to understand issues related to abuse that they could serve their congregations better and protect the children within those congregations,” he said. “I praise God for that progress.”

“As I often tell many people, Aslan is on the move,” Tchividjian said in a reference to a Christ figure characterized in the C.S. Lewis children’s classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Earlier this year GRACE was asked by Bob Jones University to investigate complaints that the school may have failed to adequately respond to sexual abuse disclosures or conveyed inappropriate information regarding sexual abuse. The university agreed to cooperate fully with the independent investigation.

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