I’m thinking of Ephesians 5:11 today in preparing this post. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Can we shine light on the churches and church leaders who minimize and re-victimize the abused? Is it possible to make your church safer by learning to spot and report predatory behavior? How can you create a healing haven for true victims? What do you need to learn to help equip the people of your church family to do both? How can you stand for the victims? I’m just asking.

From the book:

“Let us be the Church that Christ leads by following the wisdom of his Spirit-breathed Scriptures.

‘And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the
shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of
ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain
to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children,
tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every
wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful
schemes. (Eph. 4:11–14, ESV)’

Let us rise to the occasion and take a stand for victims. Let us go out to gather their brokenness as a church and see to the needs of our brothers and sisters. Let the church indeed return to the gospel and let Bible colleges include classes to prepare pastors to protect their flocks from predators.

‘Conversations of deception and abuse in the church were completely absent from my training . . . But I think most, if not all, seminaries in our country are failing to equip ministers to distinguish wolves from sheep. We are pretending that churches are safe when they are not. . .Nothing—and I mean absolutely nothing was taught about screening or background checks. Not a word was taught about the prevalence of sexual abuse in the church or the need to have a written policy.’ (Hinton, Jimmy, The Devil Inside, Freiling Publishing, 2021, pp. 461, 472, 508.)” (Taylor, Joy S., A View from the Pews — The Inside Story of a Broken Church, 2022, Lily of the Valley Publishing, Santa Claus IN, pp. 164,166.)

#aviewfromthepews  #forthevictims

“A View from the Pews” is available on Amazon in print and ebook format, along with being available to read through the Kindle Unlimited program. Choose your preferred method and read the rest of the story. This project is for the victims. Every book sold and every page read helps support Safe Connections non-profit in St. Louis. Please join me in the cause for victims of abuse.

Payment #1 March Royalties $490.70

Payment #2 April Royalties plus personal sales $295.23

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