Is help that comes with restrictions helpful? Can the scars of abuse be dealt with in 6-12 counseling sessions? Should the church have offered to pay more than what insurance wouldn’t pay? What if the victims aren’t insured? If you re-victimize the survivors by forcing these restrictions, is that helpful or hurtful? If you fire the minister who is the only one through whom access to church help is available, is that help? What did FCCF actually do to help the victims? I’m just asking.
“What did the church do for the victims? I am back to the question that resounded at the June 8 leaders’ meeting. The church leadership arranged for limited counseling for victims, with the caveat that the first visit had to be with FCCF’s Family Life Minister. Granted, he was a licensed and practicing counselor, but several people wondered whether a victim of a church pastor would actually be okay with going to a session with a staff member of the church that hired the pedophile. FCCF posted the victim plan on the church website, along with a list of possible outside services and their hourly rates. However, the information was buried on the website, so casual observers or potential new members could not easily see it. It all appeared to be part of the protective mechanism that the elders and Steve Wingfield put into action to put protecting the church’s image above helping the victims.” (Taylor, Joy S., A View from the Pews — The Inside Story of a Broken Church, 2022, Lily of the Valley Publishing, Santa Claus IN, p. 131.)
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