海角大神

Basyle 鈥淏oz鈥� Tchividjian has devoted most of his career to an emotionally and spiritually wrenching task.

A former prosecutor, he鈥檚 been investigating charges of sexual misconduct and child abuse for nearly three decades. Since the mid-2000s, however, he鈥檚 focused on American houses of worship, especially those within his own evangelical Protestant tradition. He鈥檚 handled hundreds of cases over the years, and he is still seared by the memories of them.

There was the missionary boarding school in Africa his team investigated, in which house parents and teachers were abusing a number of children. 鈥淚t was an eye opener for us, we left our soul behind after the investigation,鈥� says Mr. Tchividjian, who in 2003 founded an organization called聽, or Godly Response to Abuse in the 海角大神 Environment.

While the #MeToo movement has revealed widespread abuse from Hollywood to government to businesses, mounting allegations of sexual misconduct within houses of worship and religious communities point to something perhaps even more appalling 鈥� a breach of a special trust. And a number of activists suggest it is far more common than many may imagine.

鈥淚n the early 2000s, when the tragedy of the Catholic Church was just starting to emerge, I鈥檓 thinking to myself, and sharing with others, my goodness, Protestants for the most part have no clue that this is as serious as an issue in their own churches,鈥� says Tchividjian, a grandson of the historic evangelist Billy Graham and a law professor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

During the past year,聽many women, and even some men, across the country have used the online hashtag聽聽to聽tell their stories of past abuse. They have recounted how men in power used their uniquely intimate roles as pastors to spiritually manipulate and sexually coerce them when they were at their most vulnerable. Many were underage teens.

鈥淲omen who have paid this pound of flesh for years, and have not been heard, or who have been silenced, are finding this kairos moment,鈥澛爏ays Belinda Bauman, founder of聽, a global campaign to assist women affected by war. Kairos is聽a theological term referring to a crucial moment to take action, and Ms. Bauman adds:聽鈥淗onestly, it feels like we have an opportunity to make a choice right now, and heaven help us if we choose wrongly, for the sake of the church and culture.鈥�

High-profile cases

Last week, one of the nation鈥檚 most influential evangelical pastors, Bill Hybels, a best-selling author and pioneer of the suburban 鈥渕egachurch鈥� movement, resigned his position from Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. Among the allegations against him were suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss, and invitations to hotel rooms from at least two women聽聽at the time. Pastor Hybels called such accusations, which had previously led to an internal church investigation,聽鈥�.鈥�

A well-known Alabama evangelist and author, Acton Bowen, was arrested last week after being charged with child sex abuse. Last month, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, Frank Page, resigned after admitting to a聽鈥�.鈥澛燛arlier this year, too, the Memphis megachurch pastor Andy Savage admitted he had engaged in a 鈥渟exual incident鈥� with an underage teen in 1998, after the woman shared her 聽online. His congregation gave him a standing ovation after his public confession,聽.

鈥淣o one is surprised at any of this,鈥� says Bauman, who last year helped to organize a corollary of the #ChurchToo movement called聽.

鈥淲e hope and wish and pray and, technically, we even believe that the church should have a whole different standard to measure up to,鈥� she says. 鈥淓xcept that, we鈥檙e full of human beings, and human beings in a power structure that has traditionally lent itself to what we call 鈥榮ystemic unholiness.鈥� 鈥�

Why聽鈥業聽lost my church鈥�

Her definition of 鈥渟ystemic unholiness鈥� is not simply about abusive pastoring. It also touches on the cultural and institutional attraction to stories of forgiveness and redemption, which in these cases serve only to silence those abused. 鈥淭hat looks a lot like the protection of power, and the protection of men in that power structure, at the expense of women telling their stories,鈥� says Bauman.

Last year, attorney and advocate Rachael Denhollander was the first of nearly 160 women to reveal publicly that she had been abused by Larry Nassar, the team doctor for USA Gymnastics, when she was a homeschooled evangelical teen. And while聽, she also told 海角大神ity Today that if her abuser had been a pastor, she would have been vilified.

鈥淲e are very happy to use sexual assault as a convenient whipping block when it鈥檚 outside our community,鈥� Ms. Denhollander聽. 鈥淲hen the Penn State scandal broke, prominent evangelical leaders were very, very quick to call for accountability, to call for change.鈥�

But she was asked to leave her church, she said, for being so outspoken on the issue. 鈥淭he reason I lost my church was not specifically because I spoke up,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚t was because we were advocating for other victims of sexual assault within the evangelical community, crimes which had been perpetrated by people in the church and whose abuse had been enabled, very clearly, by prominent leaders in the evangelical community.鈥澛犅�

Protecting the powerful

When Tchividjian was a prosecutor in central Florida in the 1990s, he was already insisting that his district establish a new special unit to prosecute cases of sexual violence. By the time he left, his office had handled thousands of abuse cases, and Tchividjian says many involved a faith community 鈥� one of the reasons he decided to launch GRACE, he says.

鈥淚t was just amazing how many church leaders and church members had no problem coming to court and testifying on behalf of the character of the defendant, and how few came in defense of the victim,鈥� he says.

He estimates that he and fellow prosecutors observed this in about 9 out of 10 cases. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something wrong with that,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭he Jesus that I know was always on the side of the wounded and the marginalized, and that鈥檚 not what鈥檚 happening here.鈥�

鈥淲e are still drawn and seduced by power and influence,鈥� says Tchividjian. 鈥淎nd so, as a result, when there is abuse within churches and faith communities, children are the ones who often fall through the cracks. The powerful and the influential, the perpetrators, those are the ones that we embrace.鈥�

Where abuse flourishes

When it comes to sexual abuse generally, there are few differences among various faith traditions,聽says Janet Heimlich, author of 鈥淏reaking Their Will, Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment.鈥� But theology and belief systems can play a role in what she calls a "perfect storm" of factors in which abuse can flourish. [Editors note: The characterization of Ms. Heimlich's research has been edited for clarity.闭听

鈥淲hat it boils down to is when a religious environment is more authoritarian,鈥� says Heimlich, who also founded the聽, an national advocacy organization that provides help for survivors and helps educate religious communities.聽鈥淚n some religious communities and environments where there is a strict social hierarchy, where certain people have a whole lot of power and others have next to none 鈥� that鈥檚 when you start to see problems.鈥澛�

鈥淭hat includes whenever there鈥檚 a fear-based aspect to the way the community rules are set, or in the way beliefs are structured,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd when there鈥檚 a strict social separatism, when a community keep themselves apart from outer communities 鈥� whenever you have these three factors, you鈥檙e more likely to see these problems.鈥�

Within such communities, 鈥渢here is often a distrust of law enforcement, and, I think, a feeling that if law enforcement takes a look under the hood, the entire community will be attacked, and it will reflect poorly on the wider community,鈥� says Kacey McBroom, a聽partner in the Los Angeles-based law firm Kaedian, LLP, who has worked with separatist-leaning religious communities.

鈥淭he feeling was: This is something that should be between the accused and God,鈥� Ms. McBroom continues. 鈥淗e will have to answer to a higher authority, and not the law.鈥�

Breaking a taboo

Tchividjian and Bauman聽say religious institutions need to both set clear protocols and begin to talk about the issue, which has long been taboo.

鈥淲hen I speak with pastors, when I speak with 海角大神 leaders, college presidents, a lot of them think this really isn鈥檛 their issue,鈥� says Bauman, who, like Tchividjian, has聽distanced herself from her evangelical heritage. 鈥淎nd I would say,聽鈥業t absolutely is your issue, because 1 in 5 women on college campuses have experienced a violent incident, sexually-based, in their lives,鈥櫬犫�� she says,聽. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 海角大神 campuses, too.鈥�

鈥淏ut I love the church, period,鈥� says Bauman. 鈥淚t is my home. I work in war zones, and I see the damage that the church does globally. But I also see the joy and the healing that the church does globally.鈥�

Which is one of the reasons Tchividjian and his colleagues at GRACE have been trying to develop seminary curricula and training for communities of faith.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to change the culture of churches, we can鈥檛 just go in and do a weekend training on child protection or sexual violence,鈥� says Tchividjian. 鈥淲hat happens with those, you go in for a weekend, you do a training, everyone feels sort of good that they鈥檝e done this, they know a little more, which is good.鈥�

鈥淏ut at the end of the day, if I go back to the church six months later, and I ask, how has this training impacted the culture of this church carries on business?鈥� he says. 鈥淢ost of the time, if we鈥檙e being honest, not much.鈥�