Before your church begins to implement changes, it is important to ensure that your leaders are well trained on the issue of abuse. The fourth step in the challenge is to equip your Caring Well team.
The ERLC hosted a Caring Well Conference to provide teams with the opportunity to listen to survivors, learn from experts, and be equipped with an understanding of the full spectrum of abuse issues. The conference speakers cover a wide range of perspectives. You may not agree with everything you hear, but we trust that the training you receive will be helpful and beneficial overall.
The sessions were recorded and are available here. Your Caring Well Team will greatly benefit from the training.
You can complete the training in a number of ways, but here is a suggested calendar for training if you decide to meet 4 times for 2 hour blocks.
Meeting 1:
- Survivor Story — Susan Codone (17:09)
- The Church’s Response to Abuse is a Gospel Issue — Russell Moore (37:12)
- We Too: How the Church Can Respond Redemptively to the Sexual Abuse Crisis – Mary DeMuth (14:50)
Meeting 2:
- Survivor Story — Megan Lively (19:31)
- Abuse and Mental Health: Understanding the Long-term Effects of Trauma — Kay Warren (23:09)
- Walking with the Broken: Caring Well for Friends and Family who Have Experienced Abuse – Jamie Ivey (13:28)
Meeting 3:
- Survivor Story — Jennifer Michelle Greenberg (14:32)
- Facts vs. Myths: Understanding Who Child Sexual Abusers Actually Are – Gregory Love (18:44)
- Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores — Diane Langberg (31:59)
Meeting 4:
- Survivor Story — Jackie Hill Perry (11:46)
- Rid of My Disgrace: The Work of Christ and the Effects of Abuse – Justin Holcomb (15:06)
- What Is a Girl Worth?: A conversation with Rachael Denhollander and Russell Moore on the Church’s Abuse Crisis (34:50)
While you can complete the training in a number of ways, we recommend your Caring Well Team meet together to discuss what you learn.
Here are some possible discussion questions to ask at each meeting:
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- How were you challenged by the survivor story?
- What were your top-takeaways from this week’s sessions?
- How does this help us better prevent abuse in our setting?
- How does this help us better care for those among us who have been abused?
- How does this change the way we talk about abuse at our church?
- Of the sessions we watched this week, are there any that it would be helpful to have individuals or groups of individuals in our church watch (ex. elders, pastor, student pastor, children’s pastor, pastoral team, children’s ministry volunteers, etc.)
- Are there changes that need to be made at our church?
If you complete these sessions and want to learn more, further videos are available here.