Sexual Abuse by Church Leaders and Healing for Victims
CAROLYN HOLDERREAD HEGGEN*
Abstract: Sexual abuse by a church leader is an egregious violation of
professional ethics and a serious misuse of the power of the pastor/teacher
role. The resultant trauma for victims affects all aspects of their lives.
Churches and their institutions have not consistently responded in
appropriate ways to reports of abuse and have too often, by their denial or
lack of effective intervention and care, further traumatized victims.
Congregations can be places of healing if they believe victims and respond
appropriately, if their Worship is sensitive to victims, if they provide
ongoing accompaniment for victims and those who love them, and if they
make a commitment to work diligently to prevent further abuse.
Although Mennonites have a well-developed theology of
nonviolence and are leaders in the field of peacemaking, they have
not been consistently successful in protecting those entrusted to
their care from sexually abusive pastors and leaders.(1) Like
_______________________
*Carolyn Holderread Heggen (Ph.D.) is a mental health therapist who
specializes in recovery from trauma. She is the author of Sexual Abuse in Christian
Homes and Churches (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1993), a co-leader of Sister Care
International seminars sponsored by Mennonite Women USA, and a frequent
international consultant on community trauma recovery and healing from sexual
violence.
1. Because many leaders of church institutions are ordained, I will sometimes
use “clergy” to refer to both pastors and leaders. The dynamics and resultant issues
of abuse are similar. I also use male pronouns when referring to abusive clergy and
leaders. This is not so much for stylistic reasons as it is an effort to reflect the reality
that reports of a female clergy member sexually abusing a parishioner are extremely
rare. In my many years of working with victims of clergy sexual abuse, I have yet to
encounter a victim who was abused by a woman pastor. I am also aware that there
are boys and young men who have been sexually abused by a Mennonite male
teacher, youth pastor, evangelist, or church leader. The resultant issues have been
devastating for these male victims. Because my clinical practice and work in the
church have primarily been with female victims and male abusers and because the
majority of publicly exposed cases have been of this gender configuration, I will
address primarily issues related to females abused by males. That said, we need to
create more safe places for male victims to tell their stories and find the help they
need to heal from the trauma of their abuse. One of the common questions of male
victims is, "Am I a homosexual? I didn’t think so before my abuse but why would
he have been attracted to me if I’m not?" In such instances it is important to remind
the victim that rape and sexual abuse are not primarily about sex but about abuse of
power. It was often the victim's vulnerability and not his sexual orientation that
made him attractive to the predatory male abuser. Many males who abuse boys and
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82 The Mennonite Quarterly Review
virtually all other denominations, Mennonites do not have reliable
statistics available to know the full extent of leader sexual abuse.
Webs of secrecy built around perpetrators, disbelief at accusations
of sexual assault, and unhelpful responses to others who have
disclosed abuses combine to make it less likely that victims will
report abuses. Anecdotal information and research provided by
sociologist Conrad L. Kanagy, however, suggest that Mennonites
have rates of sexual abuse at least equal to that of the general
population.(2) Because Mennonites' history of suffering and
martyrdom is central to their identity, and because nonviolence,
peace, love of enemies, and forgiveness are Mennonite core
principles, victims may find it harder to resist violation and to
report abuses.
Studies of ecumenical groups of clergy have found that 38.6
percent of clergy members self-report a sexual involvement they
consider inappropriate with members of their congregation.
Additionally, 76.5 percent of those surveyed said they knew a
clergy colleague who had been sexually involved with a member
of their congregation.(3) A 1998 study by J.W. Thoburn and ]. O.
Balswich found that among all professional helpers clergy have the
highest rate of sexual exploitation.(4) Research by the United Church
of Canada indicates that women are more likely to experience
sexual harassment in their church than in the workplace.(5)
For years women have been reporting sexual abuse by trusted
church leaders. Too often the church did not believe them. Even if
the women were believed, those women who disclosed the abuse
were frequently considered troublemakers, enticing seductresses,
predatory females, or loose women. Reports of sexual abuse are
still often met with anger directed at the victim for besmirching the
reputation of the church and the accused, or for causing distress to
his family. In rare cases the abusive leader or pastor has been fired,
but even then a common pattern has been to maintain secrecy
about the reason for his dismissal. Some abusive leaders have
_________________________
young men are not homosexually oriented themselves but are sexually aroused by
the vulnerability of their victims.
2. Conrad L. Kanagy, Road Signs for the Journey: A Profile of Mennonite Church
LISA (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2006). All of the case studies and stories included
in my book, Sexual Abuse in Christian Homes and Churches (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald
Press, 1993), are Mennonite stories.
3. Kathryn A. Flynn, The Sexual Abuse of Women by Members of the Clergy
(Jefferson, N,C,: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2003), 3.
4. J.W. Thoburn and I. O. Balswick, "Demographic Data on Extra-marital Sexual
Behavior in the Ministry,” Pastoral Psychology 46, no. 6 (1998), 447-457.
5. Flynn, Sexual Abuse of Women by Members of the Clergy, 4.
Sexual Abuse by Leaders; Healing for Victims 83
negotiated deals with their churches or institutions whereby the
leader agreed to resign and leave his position in exchange for an
institutional promise to never reveal the reason for his termination.
Many victims of clergy sexual abuse never tell. They have
watched other victims blamed, denigrated, and shunned. Many
will never risk becoming outcasts in their church, a significant
social and spiritual community for Mennonites.
WHAT IS CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE?
The language used to describe the sexual involvement of a
church leader with someone under his care or influence has often
distracted us from properly understanding and addressing the
problem. Marie Fortune, an early and prominent advocate for
victims, emphasizes the need to correctly frame and name the
problem.(6) It is neither appropriate nor helpful to see clergy sexual
abuse as primarily an issue of deficient individual morality or to
consider it "an affair," a ”sexual relationship," or even “adultery/'
These terms imply a mutuality and consent that is lacking when a
trusted leader becomes sexually involved with a parishioner;
authentic consent requires an equality of power in a relationship. lt
is instead, abuse.(7)
Clergy sexual abuse occurs when one who is in a position of
trust or power takes advantage of someone entrusted to his care. It
is an egregious exploitation of power, a profound violation of
professional ethics, and a repudiation of Christian love and care.
Peter Rutter, author of Sex in the Forbidden Zone: When Men in
Power-Therapists, Doctors, Clergy, Teachers, and Others-Betray
Women's Trust, warns of sexual behavior, or erotic expression or
interest that occurs in "the forbidden zone"--namely, any
professional relationship of trust and unequal power.(8) Sexualized
behaviors that are “forbidden” may or may not include actual
physical touch. They may include unusual attention, including
gifts, frequent social telephone calls, letters, private visits, or
__________________
6. Marie Fortune, Is Nothing Sacred? When Sex Invades the Pastoral Relationship
(San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989),
7. Although rare, there are known cases of a needy, previously wounded
woman who has tried to sexually seduce a pastor. It is still the pastor's professional
responsibility and duty to protect the woman-even if only from herself-and to
maintain appropriate boundaries. This is always the responsibility of the
professional, the person with the most power.
8. Peter Rutter, Sex in the Forbidden Zone: When Men in Power-Therapists, Doctors,
Clergy, Teachers, and Others-Betray Women’s Trust (Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher,
Inc., 1989).
84 The Mennonite Quarterly Review
attempts to develop a "special" relationship. Additional behaviors
that are not permitted, according to the Mennonite Church's
Ministerial Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures, include:(9)
- Flirtatious propositions, talk, or innuendo;- Graphic or degrading comments about another person’sappearance, dress, or anatomy;- Display of sexually suggestive objects or pictures;- Sexual jokes or offensive gestures;- Explicit descriptions of a minister's own sexual experiences;- Abuse of familiarities or diminutives such as "honey," ”baby,"or ”dear";- Inappropriate or unwanted physical contact such as touching,hugging, pinching, patting, or kissing;- Whistling or catcalls;- Leering.
PASTORAL POWER
Many pastors, feeling overworked, underappreciated, and
underpaid, are blind to the inherent power of their profession.
Miriam Stark Parent, a clinical psychologist and professor of
pastoral counseling and psychology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School, found that ministers often have an ambivalent or distorted
attitude toward issues of power and authority. They tend to
minimize their power and, thus, their responsibility for
maintaining clear and appropriate boundaries.(10)
The strong Mennonite emphasis on ”servant leadership" and
"the priesthood of all believers” can make it particularly
uncomfortable to talk about the power of church leaders. Such
hesitancy may make it more difficult to understand the inherent,
often subtle power of the pastoral role and may make this power
easier to abuse.
The relationship between a male pastor and a female
parishioner, or between a male professor and a female student, is
in many ways a microcosm of the broader cultural relationship
between women and men, which remains one of a significant
__________________
9. See attachment 2 in justice Making: The Church Responds to Clergy Misconduct, a
Companion Piece to Ministerial Sexual Misconduct Police and Procedures.
ChurchRespondsToClergyMisconduct.pdf.
10. Miriam Stark Parent, “Boundaries and Roles in Ministry Counseling,”
American Journal of Pastoral Counseling 8, no. 2 (2005), 1-25.
Sexual Abuse by Leaders; Healing for Victims 85
imbalance of power. For example, men, in general, have greater
earning power. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women with
similar levels of education and experience as men doing the same
job earn only $0.77 for every dollar men earn. In some minority
groups the wage gap is even wider. African-American women
earn only $0.69 for every dollar African-American men earn. ln
this country, Latinas earn only $0.58 for every dollar earned by
Latinos.(11) Money is power in many situations, and thus, many
women feel, and are in fact, disempowered in relation to men
because of this earning disparity and their economic vulnerability.
In general, men also have more political power than women. This
imbalance is reflected in the fact that in 2014, only 20 of the 100
U.S. senators, 79 of the 435 members of the House of
Representatives, and 5 of the 50 U.S. governors were women. To
date, there has not been a woman president. Journalists refer to the
physical appearance of female candidates and women politicians
more often than they do to men's appearance and refer to women
more often by their first name.
Moreover, most men are physically more powerful than most
women of similar age. Knowing that they are vulnerable to being
physically overpowered significantly alters women's experience of
the world. Mary Dickson is a writer and co-producer of the
national PBS documentary "No Safe Place: Violence Against
Women" and is the winner of the 1996 Vivian Castleberry Award
for Commentary from the Association of Women Journalists for
her article ”A Woman’s Worst Nightmare." Dickson confirms what
mental health therapists report anecdotally--that there are
significant differences between what men and women report
fearing from each other: men fear being unappreciated,
disrespected, or humiliated by women. Women, on the other hand,
fear being battered, raped, or killed by men.(12)
To understand the dynamics of clergy abuse, it is important to
note some complex intra psychic and cultural dynamics related to
femininity, masculinity, and religion. In general, women have less
religious authority and power than men. For many people, based
________________
11. USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau (2013).-
www.quickfactscensus_gov/qfd/states/00000.html. See also Catherine Hill, "The
Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap" (2014) in the A.A.U.W. publication
Economic justice, www.aauw.org/research.the-simple-truth-about-tl'1e-gender-pay-
gap/.
12. Mary Dickson, "A Woman’s Worst Nightmare" (1996)
86 The Mennonite Quarterly Review
on sexist interpretations of certain biblical texts (Genesis 2 and I
Corinthians 11:7-9, for example) masculinity is associated with
divinity and moral superiority while femininity is associated with
defectiveness and moral inferiority. Research suggests that
Christian women have been taught both explicitly and implicitly
that they are morally defective because of Eve's sin and therefore
less capable than men of making right moral judgments.(13) As a
result, women may grow up not able to trust themselves when
their sense of right or wrong differs from that of a man in authority
over her. When a pastor or church leader says sexual contact
between them is good and right, a woman may find it difficult to
trust her own internal sense of right and wrong and stand strong
in opposition to the sexual seductions and assaults of a church
leader. Her moral agency may be dangerously compromised when
someone with spiritual authority is manipulating her for his own
perverse sexual pleasure.
Women's exclusion from positions of leadership and authority
in many churches imbues them with a sense of specific inferiority
reinforced by the fact that the dominant image of God for many
people and the one most frequently used in public worship is God
the Father. Of course Jesus was male as were the twelve named
disciples in his inner circle. Even the angels named in the Bible,
although presumably asexual and spiritual in nature, all have
masculine names. Throughout recorded history, most pastors,
priests, bishops, and all popes are and have been male. Thus, when
the exclusion of Women is linked to the notion of divinity as male,
it may have psychological meaning even more damaging to her
self-concept and her ability to say ”No!” to an abusive church
leader than exclusion from other groups.
In addition to the generalized power of males in our patriarchal
culture, pastors and church leaders are granted significant and
unique powers. Because many people consider the pastor to be
God’s representative and the mediator between God and the
congregation, there is a transcendent and symbolic dimension that
gives male pastors great psychological and spiritual power over
parishioners, particularly women. Peter Rutter, a psychiatrist,
notes that the power of a pastor over his congregation is greatly
enhanced by his clerical authority, if he wishes to exercise it, to
_______________________
13. Carolyn Holderread Heggen, “Dominance/Submission Role Beliefs, Self-
Esteem and Self-Acceptance in Christian Laywomen” (Ph.D. diss., University of
New Mexico, 1989).
Sexual Abuse by Leaders; Healing for Victims 87
mediate people’s status with God.(14) Thus, church leaders may
represent the very power and authority of God.
Karen Lebacqy and Ronald Barton, authors of Sex in the Parish,
highlight the numinous dimension of the pastorate and the pedestal
eject that comes from dispensing the sacraments and representing
the divine.(15) This "God factor” can cloud victims’ perceptions and
diminish their ability to detect warning signs that could keep
themselves safe from a predatory church leader.
Psychiatrists Carl Jung, M. Scott Peck and others have observed
the close relationship between spiritual longing and sexual desires.
The human quest for intimacy with God often taps into an energy
that feels similar to sexual passion. Our spiritual longing reminds
us of our longing for intimacy with another human being. As
Robert Carlson observed, ”The effort to find God opens that same
well of yearning that exists in all of us and sometimes encourages
us to sexual desire."(16) In both sexual and spiritual experiences we
lower our defenses; ego boundaries become less defined. In church
we also practice common kinds of ”courting" behaviors-we often
dress up and are on our best behavior.
It is important to make a clear distinction between sexual
feelings and inappropriate sexual acts. Sexual feelings, particularly
in relationships of close contact as in the church, are natural and
often unavoidable. But church leaders are expected to avoid acting
upon these feelings and violating appropriate sexual boundaries.
Church leaders have a power of access that is unique to their
profession. Church leaders and those under their care and
influence assume they have access to congregants’ homes and
hospital rooms, their history and secrets, their vulnerability, and
even their souls. Church leaders may have knowledge about us
that exceeds even that of close family members. Pastors can claim
an intimacy not normally granted others because of the
confessional role they play in lives of church members and because
their parishioners believe they can trust them.
Moreover, unlike most helping professionals, pastors and
church leaders function without close supervision and with
minimal accountability. The cultural status and prestige they enjoy
opens doors to them unlike any other profession and for which
many are ill suited and unprepared.
____________________
14. Rutter, Sex in the Forbidden Zone, 27-28.
15. Karen Lebacqz and Ronald G. Barton, Sex in the Parish (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press, 1991), 110-111.
16. Robert Carlson, "Battling Sexual Indiscretion,” Ministry 60, no. 1(1987).
88 The Mennonite Quarterly Review
RESULTANT ISSUES FOR VICTIMS OF CLERGY ABUSE
Like most denominations, the Mennonite Church and her
institutions have not consistently responded in appropriate,
helpful ways to reports of sexual abuse by a pastor or leader.(17) Too
little attention has been given to the needs of victims and too much
has focused on damage control, containment, protection of the
perpetrator’s public image, his rehabilitation and restoration, and
the preservation of reputations of both perpetrators and
institutions.
Very little attention, by contrast, has been paid to the actual
experiences of victims as violated persons. Care for victims has
most often happened outside of church structures. The voices
clamoring for justice and care for the abused have often been those
of other victims who have found healing support elsewhere.
The therapeutic community focused on trauma and the victims
who have begun their healing have much to teach us. They know
that to be sexually abused by a church leader is to experience a
devastating trauma that leaves deep scars. The English word
trauma comes from an ancient Greek word that means a ”wound”
or “an injury inflicted upon the body by an act of violence.”
Current trauma studies have extended the understanding of
trauma to include not only wounding to the visible body but also
to the brain, the emotions and psyche, and the soul.(18) While
invisible, these wounds often have a more damaging effect on
one’s well-being than more obvious physical wounds.
There is a growing awareness in the therapeutic community
that surviving sexual abuse is similar to surviving war. Many
victims of both war and abuse experience ”Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder” (P.T.S.D.). There are three clusters of P.T.S.D. symptoms:
Re-experiencing the trauma event through intrusive thoughts,
flashbacks, nightmares, and disturbing mental images.
Avoidance symptoms that include emotional numbing,
dissociating from what is presently happening, not wanting to talk
about the trauma, and avoiding people, places, sounds, and smells
that remind them of the trauma.
__________________
17. For a summary of the steps that have been taken in the Mennonite Church
since the 1980s to raise awareness, see the essay by Linda Gehman Peachey
elsewhere in this volume.
18. Serene Jones, Trauma and Grace: Theology in a Ruptured World (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 12.
Sexual Abuse by Leaders; Healing for Victims 89
Persistent neurological hyper-arousal expressed in an exaggerated
startle reflex, constant expectation of harm, insomnia, and an
inability to fully relax.
Judith Herman, a psychiatrist and trauma expert, has defined
trauma as an affliction of helplessness in response to
overwhelming events.(19) Psychological trauma involves feelings of
intense fear, helplessness, confusion, loss of control, and the threat
of annihilation. Herman describes two core responses to trauma:
1. Profound sense of powerlessness with a resultant sense of
extreme helplessness and terror
2. Disconnection from systems of attachment and meaning.
Following an in-depth study of the effects of clergy sexual abuse
on twenty-five women from eleven states, Kathryn A. Flynn, the
author of The Sexual Abuse of Women by Members of the Clergy,
observes that "the disconnection resulting from the traumatic
experience affects systems of attachment. Trauma shatters the
construction of the self, violates a victim's faith in a natural or
divine order, and injures one’s sense of human connection, safety
and trust."(20)
While the trauma of abuse is multifaceted and inevitably varies
among individual victims based on their past history, their
personality, and their inner and outer resources, all victims of
abuse suffer long-term consequences even though they may not
always correct their symptoms to the trauma experienced. All
aspects of their life will be hurt-their sense of belovedness; their
sense of dignity and worth; their sense of agency and control over
their behavior and emotions, their body, and life choices; their
ability to trust and have healthy relationships; and their
spirituality.
It is no wonder that many victims of abuse struggle with eating
disorders, self-mutilating behaviors, insomnia, depression, anxiety,
and addictions. When the abuse has been done by someone who
preached and taught in God's name, the spiritual and
psychological damage may be so deep that victims never recover
their faith in God or the church.
A recurring sentiment expressed by victims of clergy abuse is
disappointment and a sense of betrayal that their church has not
paid appropriate attention to their suffering. Too often the focus
____________________
19. Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery (New York, N.Y.: Basic Books,
1997).
20. Flynn, Sexual Abuse of Women by Members of the Clergy, 32.
90 The Mennonite Quarterly Review
has been on protecting the reputation of the church and on ways to
restore the offender to ministry again. Victims who have broken
silence have too consistently been treated as the guilty party for
“making a good man fall into sin,” for upsetting the equilibrium of
congregational life, and for damaging the Christian reputation and
witness in their community. Many have sensed the church wishes
they would just ”go away!" And many have left-their pain
compounded when church friends and staff do not stay in touch,
reach out in supportive, loving ways, or even acknowledge their
absence or their trauma.
WHAT CAN THE CHURCH Do TO HELP VICTIMS HEAL?
The church's response to those who have experienced clergy
sexual abuse can either increase their trauma or help them heal
and be restored to faith and their spiritual community. The
following suggestions come from years of professionally
accompanying victims who have been abused by a pastor or
church leader.
1. Response to a Victims Disclosure of Clergy Abuse
Believe her and express moral outrage. Assure her it is not her
fault.
Keep the primary focus on the victim’s pain and need for safety
and support. Don’t be sidetracked by concerns for damage
control.
Listen! Don’t initially ask a lot of questions or attempt to obtain
specific details of the abuse.
2. Follow-up Steps
With the help of professionals outside the church, determine if
a crime has been committed. If so, report it to the authorities.
Assign an advocate to walk with the victim and protect her
from retaliation by the abuser or by those who might wish to
protect him, his reputation, and the institution.
Assure her and her family that they are not alone and will not
be abandoned.
Arrange for her to have a professional assessment of the
physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual damage she
may have suffered. Try to find someone outside the abuser's
denomination to do this and secure church funds to pay the
expense.
Sexual Abuse by Leaders; Healing for Victims 91
3. Congregational or Institutional Issues
Plan a congregational meeting to share appropriate
information, to educate, and to answer questions such as
”Why didn't she just say ’no'?” “Why can't she just forgive
him?"
Help members use appropriate language. When members refer
to what happened as "adultery" or an "affair," explain why
these terms often mask a serious violation of the pastoral
role that is more appropriately considered sexual abuse or
sexual violence.
Hold a service of confession and lament to acknowledge the
ways in which victims were not protected and to mourn the
pain that the abuse has caused them, their loved ones, and
the congregation.
Explore acts of restitution and justice-making for victims.
Place Written resources about abuse in the church library and
other readily accessible locations. Share information about
local support groups and online resources.(21)
4. Victim Sensitive Worship
In public prayers and times of worship, name the sin of abuse
and the pain of victims who have been betrayed by a leader
or trusted person.
During times of confession, name the church's failure to
appropriately discipline abusive leaders and protect
vulnerable women.
Use laments and prayers in public worship that victims may
have written as part of their healing journey.
5. Ongoing Accompaniment with the Victim
Let her be angry; help her use her anger as energy to move
beyond despair and depression toward healing. Share
Psalms with her that express the writer’s anger. Assure her
that God can handle her anger.
Do not push her to quickly forgive her abuser or encourage her
to immediately be reconciled to him. Reconciliation and
restoration cannot happen without his true repentance, self-
awareness, and transformation.
Empower the victim to tell her story. ln bearing witness to her
experience of violation she takes control away from her
_____________________
21. For references to some of this material see the essay by Linda Gehman
Peachey elsewhere in this issue.
92 The Mennonite Quarterly Review
abuser and the institutions that protected him and takes an
important step toward reclaiming control over her own life.
Point out signs of strength and healing you see in her. Help her
identify and celebrate manifestations of God’s healing and
faithfulness.
Explore with her the possibility of creating a personal ritual of
healing to be shared with a small group of friends. Make
suggestions but let her decide which elements would be
personally meaningful for her.
Help her find a ”survivor’s mission” -a way to use her tears as
motivation and energy for helping others. This can help her
move from being a helpless victim to an empowered and
motivated agent of transformation and can be a powerful
step in helping redeem her suffering.
6. Working at Prevention of Future Abuse
Make a genuine commitment to eradicate abuse by church
leaders. Make public and concrete this commitment.
Teach ministers-in-training the ethical requirements of their
profession; help them identify and heal their psycho-social
wounds; and assist them in developing a meaningful
personal spirituality.
Create, implement, and carefully monitor policies designed to
prevent abuse and ensure that offenders are held
accountable.
Examine religious teachings and practices that may make it
difficult for Mennonite women to protect themselves
effectively from sexual predators in the church. Consider
how teachings about redemptive suffering, the need to
quickly forgive, to refrain from lawsuits, to love your
enemies, to not be angry, to return evil with good, and to
submit to men may be related to abuse.
Analyze known cases of boundary violations to learn more
about the dynamics of leader abuse and institutional
responses that were or were not effective in stopping the
abuse.
Challenge patriarchy as contrary to God's intentions for
humanity. Abuse of women and children is frighteningly
logical, common, and normative in cultures and institutions
where men are given more power and respect than women,
where masculinity is seen as a clearer reflection of the divine
than is femininity, and where women are taught to trust men
Sexual Abuse by Leaders; Healing for Victims 93
more than their own inner moral compass. The world may
continue to elevate the man with the most academic degrees,
power, and social influence. But the church must use
different criteria for choosing leaders, making decisions, and
living together.
CONCLUSION
Sexual abuse by a pastor or church leader causes devastating
trauma. The resultant symptoms have far-reaching and long-
lasting effects on all aspects of the lives and relationships of
victims. Too often the church's response has inflicted further
trauma on victims, has allowed perpetrators to deny their sinful
violence, and has put others at risk. If we will hold perpetrators
accountable and take a firm stand against abuse and the misuse of
power, if we will open our hearts to victims and be tender
witnesses to their anguish, if we will let them teach us about the
trauma and injustice of sexual violence, then Mennonites might
rightly claim to be people of peace and effective mediators of
God’s healing and amazing grace.
