One robust move in the past year was the unanimous adoption of Overture 6 by the theologically conservative denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). In it, the denomination acknowledges the epidemic nature of child sexual abuse in this country and argues that the silence of churches on this topic renders it complicit with God. Essentially, the declared that if the church doesn’t speak out against child sexual abuse, the church thinks God is okay with it. To fight that silence, the PCA urged church leaders to protect children in both practice and in their teaching.

While international religious issues have rightly taken the headlines on this side of the Atlantic, one enduring issue that churches must not allow to fade from view is the protection and the defense of children.

A recent AP study found that over the last 5 years, 2,500 teachers have been punished for sexual misconduct. And these issues are not far from the Northern Virginia area with the news of a Stafford County teacher’s indictment on 4 counts of sexual misconduct. Sadly, churches are not immune from these issues as well as a Spotsylvania Youth worker was recently arrested on sex charges.

While no policy or institution can 100% insure the safety of our children, every diligent effort that can be made should be made.

One robust move in the past year was the unanimous adoption of Overture 6 by the theologically conservative denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). In it, the denomination acknowledges the epidemic nature of child sexual abuse in this country and argues that the silence of churches on this topic renders it complicit with God. Essentially, the declared that if the church doesn’t speak out against child sexual abuse, the church thinks God is okay with it.

To fight that silence, the PCA urged church leaders to protect children in both practice and in their teaching. They implored churches towards compassion to survivors and their families, and directed churches to review their policies and practices related to protection and abuse response.

But resolutions and overtures are only pieces of paper until action takes place. As the pastor of Evident Grace Fellowship, a young church in the Spotsylvania/Fredericksburg area, we started small and have gradually added on our children’s services. We did this only as we could adequately staff them over the past 2 years. In light of the PCA’s overture and with the urging of staff and members of the congregation, we knew that we needed to take stronger protective measures for our children.

That measure is the launch of a full-scale childcare training event on March 15th. This event will insure that our workers are background checked, trained, and given continual education to care properly for and protect children. Training is one thing, implementation is another, so we know that we will have to continually train, educate, and evaluate our services as time passes and as we grow.

The bottom line is that all churches, even those with well thought out and implemented policies, should regularly review their practices. When changes need to be made, they need to the highest priority and taught as such to congregations. Violations must be reported, and transparency must be clear so that we, and any of our visiting families, feel that their children are safe in our care.

With these efforts, perhaps the number of abuses will drastically drop in the coming years. Each abuse avoided is worth the time, money, and effort that must be put into training.

Gordon Duncan is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is pastor of Evident Grace Fellowship in Fredericksburg, Va. This article appeared in the Examiner.com and is used with the author’s permission.

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