Creating safe churches
God intends for the church to be a safe place for all to encounter God and grow into lives of service and fulfillment. We are called to be a holy community.
As the one who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct. (1 Peter 1:15)
Yet, we live in a broken world, and we know churches are not always a safe place. Sexual misconduct for too long has been an unspoken shame in some churches.
This website is designed to help all churches be safe churches. You'll find materials to help at each stage of the process in addressing sexual misconduct issues.The materials on this Web site will give you tools to create policies, raise an awareness of prevention practices, report misconduct and rebuild a broken trust when sexual misconduct occurs.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has had policies on sexual misconduct for over a decade. Through God's grace we've made good progress in helping all churches to be safe churches. Much work remains to be done.
With God's help, we will see a day when "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24).
Get the Final Report of the Independent Abuse Review Panel (IARP)
The Final Report of the Independent Abuse Review Panel (IARP) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) summarizes fact-finding inquiries conducted since 2004 into reports of past physical and sexual abuse on Presbyterian mission fields.
The IARP offers the Final Report with deep respect for each person and entity touched by the difficult issues discussed here. The purpose of gathering and reporting this information at this time is to move each of us and all of us forward toward the fullness and richness of life given to us and promised for us by God. Learn how to obtain the report.