"Any church leader who feeds themselves rather than feeding the sheep is a counterfeit shepherd.
Anyone in a position of power within the body of Christ
who abuses a lamb or hides the abuse
done to the one the Good Shepherd knows and calls by name
has profaned the name of our God."
Diane Langberg, PhD
Anyone in a position of power within the body of Christ
who abuses a lamb or hides the abuse
done to the one the Good Shepherd knows and calls by name
has profaned the name of our God."
Diane Langberg, PhD
Over 7,000 claims of sexual abuse by church staff, congregation members, volunteers, or the clergy were made to just three insurance companies over a 20-year period (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2007). Recently, a study of over 300 alleged child sexual abuse cases in protestant Christian congregations found the overwhelming majority took place on church grounds, or at the offender’s home, most frequently carried out by Caucasian, male clergy or youth pastors (Denney, Kerley, & Gross, 2018).
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According to this article, there are 2.7 church shootings a year. There are an estimated 378,000 congregations in the United States, which means the likelihood of any congregation being involved in a shooting in any year is approximately one in 126,000 or 0.0000079 percent.
You are more likely to be abused
by someone in the church, than your congregation being involved in a shooting. |
Joshua Peace says in this article, "Diagnosing the scope of the problem [sexual abuse in church] isn’t easy, because there’s no hard data. The most commonly referenced study shows how difficult it is to find accurate statistics. In that 2007 report, the three largest insurers of churches and Christian nonprofits said they received about 260 claims of sexual abuse against a minor each year. Those figures, though, exclude groups covered by other insurers, victims older than 18, people whose cases weren’t disclosed to insurance companies and the many who, like Denhollander, never came forward. In other words, the research doesn’t include what is certainly the vast majority of sexual abuse."
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Study: Child Sexual Abuse in Protestant Christian Congregations Utilizing data from 326 cases of alleged child sexual abuse that occurred at or through activities provided by Protestant Christian congregations between 1982 & 2014.
- The overwhelming majority of identified offenders were male. Specifically, male offenders were represented by 98.8%
- Specifically, offender ages at the time of the alleged sexual abuse ranged from 18 to 88 years of age.
- The overwhelming majority (80.1%) of offenders were employed in an official capacity within their respective churches with a substantial minority (19.9%) being volunteers. Pastor 34.9% - Youth Minister 31.4% - Youth Volunteer 8.3% - Associate Pastor 5.4% - Music Minister 4.8% - Volunteer 3.2% - Sunday School Teacher 2.9% - Deacon 2.2% - Church Member 2.2% - Church Camp Worker 0.6%. The most frequent male offender role was a Pastor at 34.9%
- Five specific location-types of at the church, the offender’s home, off-site, off-site church-sponsored activity, and the victim’s home emerged.
In 2015 the first national survey of adult survivors of clergy perpetrated sexual abuse was conducted (March-May 2015). 280 survivors participated in the study. We are so grateful to the courageous survivors who agreed to participate. This project was directed by David Pooler, Ph.D., LCSW. Below you will find a summary of some of the salient findings.
- 65% of survivors were married
- 88% of perpetrators were married
- Only 4% of perpetrators were prosecuted
- Only 8% Agree or Strongly Agree that their church supported them after the abuse occurred
- 8% Agree or Strongly Agree that the perpetrator apologized to them
- 50% Agree or Strongly Agree that their experience with the church after the abuse negatively affected their relationship with God
- 80% Agree or Strongly Agree that their experience with the church after the abuse negatively affected their spiritual life
- 7% Agree or Strongly Agree that their church had a policy in place to help support them
- 9% Agree or Strongly Agree the church was helpful when they reported the abuse
- 15% Agree or Strongly Agree that their church/denomination thoroughly investigated the report
Websites devoted to reporting about clergy sexual abuse of both children and adults.
The Wartburg Watch
Watchkeep
Stop Baptist Predators
No Eden Elsewhere
Bishop Accountability - Abuse Tracker
Baptist Accountability Database Site
A crowd-sourced database for Baptist predators and their enablers.
The Wartburg Watch
Watchkeep
Stop Baptist Predators
No Eden Elsewhere
Bishop Accountability - Abuse Tracker
Baptist Accountability Database Site
A crowd-sourced database for Baptist predators and their enablers.
Other Important Articles
Crouching at Every Door
Sexual Abuse is a problem in both Catholic and Protestant churches --
Here are three environments in which Protestants are particularly vulnerable
by by Marvin Olasky, Sophia Lee, Emily Belz -- World Magazine
Child Sex Abusers in Prominent Christian Churches: An Offender Typoligy
Crouching at Every Door
Sexual Abuse is a problem in both Catholic and Protestant churches --
Here are three environments in which Protestants are particularly vulnerable
by by Marvin Olasky, Sophia Lee, Emily Belz -- World Magazine
Child Sex Abusers in Prominent Christian Churches: An Offender Typoligy