A few months ago, I covered the story of Rachael Denhollander who had been the victim of sexual abuse in the States. She along with many other victims was given the opportunity to speak at the trial of Larry Nassar, her abuser, about her experiences. Nassar had been found guilty of over a hundred attacks on the athletes he had trained. Rachael’s statement was especially powerful. She spoke of justice and forgiveness in the context of her strong Christian faith. The additional fact in her story was that her own church had attacked her on the grounds that she had begun speaking about the problem of abuse in a group of evangelical churches in association with her own. She mentioned that this advocacy had forced her to leave her church because they could not tolerate criticism of other churches with whom they enjoyed cordial relationships.
Rachael’s church was never publicly identified but it has now named itself. It has also declared to the world that Rachael’s stand has resulted in a period of soul-searching and transformation for the whole congregation. The church is Immanuel Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. What they have produced is, arguably, a template for any church which finds itself on the wrong side of history in respect of abuse cases. Immanuel realised, after its time of looking at itself that it did indeed have ‘a sin to confess’. They had failed to support Rachel adequately in the lead up to the trial of Nassar and when she questioned the invitations to Sovereign Grace Ministries to preach in Immanuel. She had pointed out that there were serious concerns about abuse and safeguarding at SGM and that it was inappropriate to carry on as though nothing was going on. As the result of the apology, Immanuel Baptist Church and the Denhollanders are now reconciled.
I want to reproduce the final paragraph in the Statement for my readers as it would appear to be a model for any church which is seeking to make a new start from a position of denial, cover-up and the avoidance of truth. The paragraph is entitled The Gift of Reproof.
During a long, hard pastors’ meeting in which we were beginning to see some of our faults, one of our pastors said, “We have been given a gift.” After months of reflection, we believe this statement more than ever. Being made to see our blind spots has been a gift to us. In the last few months, God has increased our sensitivity to the concerns of the abused. He has called us to look at our own shortcomings as pastors. He has allowed us to seek and receive forgiveness from those we have failed. He has motivated us to ensure that Immanuel Baptist Church is a place where the abused are cared for and abusers are vigilantly protected against. He has renewed our sense of the importance of being held accountable to one another, to our congregation, and to the watching world. We pray that God would continue to write these lessons deeply on our hearts so that the gospel can continue to be clearly proclaimed in and through our lives.
There are several striking sections in this statement. First, we have the insight that reproof can in fact be a gift. Someone outside the closed circle which had created a pattern of groupthink, enabled them to see ‘blind spots’. The blind spot here was an inability to understand the needs and perspectives of the abused. The ability to identify and overcome these ‘blind spots’ is regarded as a gift. Because of overcoming them the congregation can see that the church can and should be ‘a place where the abused are cared for and the abusers are vigilantly protected against.’ There is also a new awareness that the church has task of being accountable both to the congregation and to the ‘watching world’.
The leaders of Immanuel Baptist Church have, in a single paragraph, come up with a set of insights about abuse which could yet provide a pattern for churches all over the world. Those who tell of abuse from the past are not the enemy. There may be speaking on behalf of God, reproving the church for its blindness, insensitivity and above all its instinct to protect the institution at all costs. The struggle that is going on in the Church of England over safeguarding issues seems very much like a battle which is being fought on these grounds. On the one side there are those who are offering the ‘gift of reproof’, the survivors and those who support them. They have been supported by the writers of numerous reports on the inadequacy of past responses. On the other side are those who have a professional concern to defend the institution and its reputation at all costs. Which side will win? We have no means of knowing. The church in Washington surrendered after five months of intense agonising and self-examination. The Church of England can delay for a long time the realisation that it has lost its way in this matter of dealing with past abuse cases. Alternatively, it can make peace with those who ‘reprove’ it. Financially that path of transparency might be expensive, but it would be the only path of true integrity and honour. The ‘watching world’ understands this clearly.
What a find! This is wonderful. Reproof is of course the gift of prophecy. Never popular. And thank God for Immanuel Baptist Church.
By the by, your autocorrect has rendered template as ten plate.
Thanks Athena. Written with some speed this morning!
An inspiring moment! – I hope this receives widespread attention. The gift of being shown our blind spot is of the essence of the Gospel in any area, if we can but manage to receive it.
Well done to Immanuel Baptist, when truth shines like this it enlightens the world. As for Rachel Denhollander, I have just read the full text of her testimony in court at the trial of Larry Nassar (https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/24/us/rachael-denhollander-full-statement/index.html ) and can only say I am overwhelmed with admiration for this remarkable woman whose tenacity, strength and courage is beyond words. May God bless her and her family, she herself is a gift to the whole Church.
Apologies – Resetting my computer is to blame my anonymity!
Rachael Denhollander has a Facebook page you might like to follow if you’re on Facebook.
The church is located in Louisville, KY.
Thank you Todd. I will correct this.
Stephen. Sorry to rather gatecrash this post but I received the SCIE survey this morning and would be really grateful if you could make as many people aware of it as possible. This is a survey for anyone who has suffered abuse in a church setting or outside but gone for help to the church. The responses have to be in by June 30th -what a total joke, as it took them 2 years to audit the dioceses, but anyone that wants to do it please do, it has to make some sort of difference surely.
You can download it from the SCIE website here: https://www.scie.org.uk/opportunities/callsforevidence/cofe-survivors.asp
SCIE is very clear that it includes carers/supporters in its work so anyone that can adapt the survey for this I think it is worth doing as long as this is made clear.
Thank you
Trish Thanks for this. I am finding hard to imagine how they will get a big response to this in such a short time. It looks and feels like an institutional method of ticking boxes to show the C/E is doing all the right things. The shepherd in the parable went to search for the lost sheep (the abused). He did not wait at the main sheepfold and wait for the the lost sheep to wander home on their own. How many abused will find the necessary oomph to fill up a form unless they have a great deal of encouragement? Filling in forms that are not compulsory is a minority sport. There is the additional fact of probably not knowing that the form exists! Let us know if you hear of survivors stumbling across this form. I am cynical enough to believe that a poor take-up will be seen as evidence for low incidence of abuse in the church – like the 13 cases of abuse that were found after a massively expensive trawl through the files of the C/E in 2010! MACSAS by contrast had 35 cases from a single diocese.
Oh dear. I’ll put it on mine, for what it’s worth.
Thank you Stephen your comment is very important. This is supposed to be on every diocesan website but I know that it isn’t. It is very important that people add their comments about their reaction to this survey as it will be used to inform the church of how they treat survivors in the future.
Not on mine either, or where I used to live, nor a neighbouring diocese. Not easily visible anyway!
Thank you Trish. I have shared the link and will try to complete the survey.
Athena – apparently SCIE got ‘confused’ and the survey is not being distributed by the NST until tomorrow!! The survey is now on the MACSAS website, however rather confusingly they say that the survey will continue after June 30th -why bother to report and then continue it – what a complete wast of time and money just do it properly in the first place. This is not what has been said on the SCIE website however and having corresponded with SCIE today and mentioned the ethics committee re the short time frame they have said there will be an ‘update’ on June 30th. What a complete mess! It would be helpful and respectful if someone actually explained what is going on.
Good post Janet that has needed saying for a long time.
Many years ago where I used to live I took part in a parish audit. This involved a team of people coming in over a period of time and interviewing people like the church wardens, lay ministers and so on. When they issued their report it became clear that the report had been written about half way through the investigative process, so half of the interviews hadn’t been used at all. Which explained some notable omissions. Waste of our time and corrupt. Sound familiar?