Evangelical Women Urging Churches to Address Abuse

[WolfGate]

Evangelical Women Just Joined #MeToo – and They're Urging Churches to Address Abuse

Good to see the large number drafting the statement. Hoping it leads to discussion in more churches.

Christian research firm LifeWay Research surveyed Protestant pastors about how they respond to domestic violence, and nearly half of pastors (47%) said they did not know if anyone in their church had been a victim of domestic violence. Most pastors (87%) said they believe a person experiencing domestic violence would find their church to be a “safe haven” but only half of pastors (52%) said they had a plan to help victims of domestic abuse.

I can pretty much assure that 47% of pastors who do not know if anyone in their church has been a victim of domestic violence that 100% of their churches have someone who has.

 

[Basil the Great]

It is my belief that churches have failed in this matter not only for decades , but for hundreds of years.

 

[Hank77]

I am so glad to see that this demographic of women are speaking out. Pastors and churches cannot be a safe haven for victims and their children if the don't have a plan. When domestic violence happens it is a right now problem that needs a right now solution for at least a temporary safe environment and a plan for going forward.
For sexual abuse situations outside of the family it is the same. There needs to be a zero tolerance policy. No pretending that it didn't happen or excusing it as a one-off.

 

[HereIStand]

That is likely a problem. First and foremost would be making sure that no abuse on church staffs is allowed to be swept under the rug. In years past, this has been an issue in some churches. Maybe less so in the Internet age.

 

[Basil the Great]

Maybe some of today's pastors should look at a critique about spousal violence written and/or spoken long ago by the Eastern Church Father John Chrysostom. I read it a year or two ago and it raised my view of him very much.

 

[Paidiske]

More than half the battle, in my experience, is building a safe enough environment for people to disclose abuse in the first place.

Small things can make a big difference; I got a lot of comment when I put up posters in the women's toilets at church advertising a family violence response service. But it was one way of saying (without words) that at this church, we don't tolerate abuse.

 

[teresa]

More than half the battle, in my experience, is building a safe enough environment for people to disclose abuse in the first place.

Small things can make a big difference; I got a lot of comment when I put up posters in the women's toilets at church advertising a family violence response service. But it was one way of saying (without words) that at this church, we don't tolerate abuse.

Thank you for doing that-that is a HUGE effort to help women in a church setting! I have never seen a christian church do this before. Most local doctors offices here have the information in the exam room as well as in the bathroom, behind the stall door, so the woman has privacy.

Interestingly, it is the law in my state that during all exams for women, they must be asked if they feel safe at home, and if anyone is making them feel unsafe or is hurting them.

 

[Chaplain David]

Hi Everyone,

I don't know one pastor that would sweep anything like abuse of women or even men under the rug. Having said that, I know from talking with women who've been abused, that talking about it with others is a very private and sometimes fear-filled endeavor for a variety of reasons.

It is often not spoken about because of real or perceived fears that condemnation or ridicule will accompany what small support they will receive as a result of being open.

I'm always open to being a triage contact. What I normally do after I receive a request for help is to connect the abused woman to another woman who has the ability and interest to be of service. I rarely try to help the abused party myself because I think woman to woman contact is more important. I might also try and link her with appropriate medical help. The thing that the abused woman has in common with others who've been abused, is that what happens after her admission sets the stage for any future requests for help.

If it is handled well she may gain more confidence about sharing in regards to her abuse. If it is not handled well she might never speak about private things again for fear of being mishandled. So it's super important how we try and help.

Should an abused woman or man need assistance and want to talk with me, please ask the person to contact me privately and I'll communicate with them, assess their needs, and involve whomever seems like they are a good fit. Everything except safety needs should be done with approval of the person needing help. If safety is involved, then protective measures should be set in motion immediately so that she/he will not be further hurt or abused.

Those of us who work in helping roles know that even when we try to help, it is not always possible in the short term. But it may be possible after a little time.

God bless everyone during this time of remembrance and celebration of our Savior's birth. It is so good to be together with you on CF.

Faithfully,

 

[Paidiske]

Thank you for doing that-that is a HUGE effort to help women in a church setting! I have never seen a christian church do this before.

To be honest, I've never seen a church do it before either. I got the idea from a Jewish friend who mentioned that her synagogue do it!

 

[WolfGate]

Hi Everyone,

I don't know one pastor that would sweep anything like abuse of women or even men under the rug.
Having said that, I know from talking with women who've been abused, that talking about it with others is a very private and sometimes fear-filled endeavor for a variety of reasons.

Most people would say that, Chaplain David. I can say from first hand experience that assuming "don't know" equals "there aren't any" would be a mistake - actually a bit naive. And it isn't always intentional. In a church we attended, I took over as chair of the elder board just in time to have a case where our senior pastor was the abuser break open. Turned out several people had seen signs, but they just didn't fit with the man they thought they knew. Some abusers are expert at projecting in public a persona that would seems to be a pillar of society.

Most disappointingly, the wife in our case approached another pastor and provided him a specific example of abuse and asked for help. That pastor went to the senior pastor, who had his own version of events which minimized things and fit in better with the man we thought we knew. The senior pastor acknowledged enough conflict (but no abuse) to seem contrite and thankful he'd been approached and he agreed to suggest to his wife they go to counseling and to keep the pastor updated. The pastor felt like he had followed Matthew teaching on a sinning brother by approaching the senior pastor and that all was now on a path to reconciliation so the issue should stay with him.

Now look where we were. The wife had approached someone for help and not gotten the support she needed. No way she was approaching another leader in the church after that. Several of her friends knew what was going on, but no way they were saying anything either because they saw it was being swept under the rug - even though that sweeping was unintentional. Ultimately one brave person was about to bring it to light, and the senior pastor knew it and understood the ramifications of what was about to happen. A family was destroyed, a church was thrown in to chaos, the other pastor lost confidence of the church and therefore his ministry/job.

All that is background. Here is the key point. In the crisis that followed, we reached out nationwide to other churches for help. Many responded with their own stories of abuse, how they botched dealing with it, and what lessons they learned. We confessed to our body, asked for forgiveness, told them everything that had happened and what we learned, and promised to be a place where no person would ever fear their claims would not be taken seriously. We created a policy for any charge of abuse that calls out required steps to take (that takes away the conflict of the accusation not fitting how we view the accused - or the accuser). Thankfully, the church healed and is healthy and last time I visited was growing with the new senior pastor.

After doing that, the number of women in our own body who came forward to tell us they had been victims of abuse at some point in their life and never felt any church was a safe place to go for help was humbling and embarrassing. My clear conclusion is that the church has a problem understanding how to deal with abuse, and that problem is so pervasive that women (in particular) all sense that problem and shy away from approaching the church rather than doing so with confidence they will be heard and helped.

The church we attended would be considered evangelical, and as such does not have women pastors or elders. I recognize that churches with women in leadership may have a different dynamic.

 

[Paidiske]

Even when we have women in leadership, it's not automatically much better.

I am - fortunate? that's not the right word - to have had enough experience of abuse personally, and disclosures of abuse, that I think/hope I have some idea about realities. But even just the other day at lunch with some colleagues (men and women) we were talking about some of this stuff and I was looking at them thinking, "You're clueless and naive." They were just in denial.

Within the last two months I was involved in reporting on a matter where the response of the person I was reporting to - who is supposed to know how to do this right - was, "Oh, x is a good priest, I'm sure they didn't do the wrong thing." (Head. desk.)

We're not well trained for this, and it doesn't come instinctively.

 

[teresa]

To be honest, I've never seen a church do it before either. I got the idea from a Jewish friend who mentioned that her synagogue do it!

its very very interesting a subject Paidiski, as to why churches do not address with their congregation, quite a lot of issues like domestic violence or sexual assault, by providing resources in the community!

Talk about not being an entity off to itself and separated from the community like schools!

Why are churches like this? What perpetuates this, do you think?

Its so SAD that you and I both have never seen a church provide any community information, I'm sure we are not alone on this observation.

 

[mkgal1]

I think there's also other factors that play into creating a perfect environment for this to go unchecked.

A church our family used to attend (and our daughter went to their private school) began allowing subtle patriarchal beliefs creep in. It happened slowly (like that frog in the water analogy) and I wasn't noticing anything at first. Then....the first red flag was raised for me when we had a guest speaker for a woman's conference. I was with a friend that didn't attend that church---and she had actually gone through a divorce recently due to some subtle but insidious emotional abuse with her ex-husband.

The guest speaker (Raul Ries wife) told her story of how Raul had abused her over the course of their entire marriage (up until this one point). She had finally reached her breaking point and was planning on leaving him. He *also* had reached his breaking point.....and was planning on murdering her. I can't do their story any justice. It was a story full of drama and a dramatic (and immediate) twist. Now Raul Ries is a prominent Christian pastor/speaker. The underlying message was: "don't give up......God has a plan....He can change hearts and perform miracles". I (unfortunately) knew of too many times where that wasn't the outcome, and I thought it was negligent to be promoting such a message. Another thing that seems to contribute to this being accepted is how hardship is revered (the background that Sharon was raised with).

This is the documentary we saw that day (if anyone is interested):

(you can shorten it by beginning @ 14 min in-20 min)

(full one hour documentary)

There was also a [horrible] marriage ministry run by a couple that had been separated for several years and reunited. Some of their "rules" were also (IMO) playing into this environment where abuse was accepted/ignored and victims were silenced----things like "don't gossip about your spouse" (which sounds like good advice, only they meant that to also include going to counseling alone and sharing any negative things that were going on).

 

[mkgal1]

Its so SAD that you and I both have never seen a church provide any community information, I'm sure we are not alone on this observation.

I do know of one denomination that's very good about educating in all sorts of human injustices--The Evangelical Covenant Church. Look at their web site for resources: Justice Archives - ECC | Resources
AVA Brochure - ECC | Resources

They even have a specific space for "making churches safer": Making Churches Safer - ECC | Resources

ETA this: AVA Online

Welcome To AVA’s Online Tutorial On Abuse

This is a self-paced tutorial on abuse for clergy, spiritual leaders and teachers. It was created by AVA (Advocacy for Victims of Abuse), a ministry of Women Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church. The purpose of this tutorial is to provide leaders with needed information on issues of domestic violence (also referred to as family violence) and childhood sexual assault. Given the prevalence of abuse, all faith leaders need basic knowledge about these two types of violence. This format permits you to gain this information at your convenience and at no cost to you. Read more about the AVA Online Tutorial…


HOW TO USE THIS TUTORIAL
This training is intended to serve as a one-time instruction as well as reference for future use. Like a dictionary, you do not have to read it all at once to get what you want from it. Once you have completed the tutorial lessons, you may return to them any time to refresh your knowledge.

AVA’s vision is to promote healthy families and safe sanctuaries in our Covenant churches. Your participation in this training will better equip you to realize this vision in your local church.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER ONLINE LESSONS

 

[Paidiske]

Why are churches like this? What perpetuates this, do you think?

I think often the need isn't recognised.

Also... this is something difficult to put into words, so bear with me if this is a bit clumsy. But when you're a minister (pastor, priest, whatever), you're often under intense time pressure. The job keeps getting bigger with more and more legal compliance and administration, but the traditional expectations about pastoral care, preaching, worship services and so on are still there. As many congregations shrink, where parishes might once have had multiple staff, an office person and so on, in many places now it's just the minister and perhaps whomever he or she can persuade to volunteer a bit of time.

There are days where I do nothing but answer the phone, or email. Finding time to be strategic, creative, or think beyond the things that have to happen by Sunday is a real challenge - and not because we're not working many hours - evenings and days off and whatever often disappear under the workload. Anxiety, stress and burnout are constant risks.

So where in that picture is the time and headspace to recognise that something needs to be done, and do it? Even when you might know it would be a good thing to do, does it ever make it to the top of your to-do list?

This is a situation where, if you're a lay person in your church and you see the need, it would be wonderful for you to go to whoever has the say-so over this area and say, "It would be really good for us to advertise these services because x, y, z, reasons; I'm happy to do all the work involved; would you be willing to let me do that?" I weep tears of joy every time a lay person comes up with an idea and volunteers to do the work.

 

[teresa]

The very best Christmas gift or any other time, is to volunteer for churches, bc they often need help completing their missions!

 

[Dave-W]

To be honest, I've never seen a church do it before either. I got the idea from a Jewish friend who mentioned that her synagogue do it!

Hopefully this will become a trend across denominational lines just as the home group movement did. (also started in Orthodox Jewish congregations in the 1960s)

 

[ValleyGal]

I don't know one pastor that would sweep anything like abuse of women or even men under the rug.

Yes. I can introduce you to the one who blamed me for the abuse and told me that if I did not feel safe in the church with my abuser there, that I was welcome to find another church.

Additionally, it is okay for you as a man, to help a woman who has been abused. It can be of help for an abused woman to know that there are gentle men out there who are willing to address the men who do abuse.

While it's great you try to link her to medical help, often it's beyond that point. Iow, abused women often try to deal with it on their own before seeking help, so medical help would either have already happened or it's too late for it to happen. Something that might be helpful is to offer to escort her to police where she can file a report against her abuser, and to a social worker who can arrange a safe way to leave her abuser. As a chaplain, it would be also up to you, if the abuser is part of your congregation, to make the church safe by removing the abuser from attending the church until the issue is resolved. This may require a restraining order. This can be done quietly, without anyone else knowing, or if the abused party is open to it, then it can be shared with the board members so they can also help to keep her safe while in the church. Imo, it would also be helpful to offer to help her find Christian counselling if she prefers that to the secular counselling she may get through the social worker or victim's assistance programs. All that on the table, the most important thing you can do is offer all of the above, and ask the victim how you and the church can support her during such a traumatic time in his/her life.

I'm finding more and more that pastors are doing more social service work than pastoral services. I actually think every church or group of churches should hire a Christian social worker to deal with these frontline services rather than taking it on themselves. With weekly team meetings, the social worker can keep the clergy informed of the social trends and problems that are occurring in their churches so some of them can be addressed from the pulpit, to ensure appropriate Christian congregational responses to the social issues and to lead the congregation back onto a righteous path....after all, that is why pastors are pastors, to lead the flock into righteousness.

 

[mkgal1]

I don't know one pastor that would sweep anything like abuse of women or even men under the rug.

This was one of a few public examples of this (pastors sweeping abuse under the rug). Do you recall hearing about "Pastor" Saeed? He gained the support of high-profile evangelicals like Franklin Graham. Fortunately.....his wife (Naghmeh) had found the support of a community of people united to help put an end to abuse in the Church.

Articles on Naghmeh Abedini, who is bravely exposing the abusive behaviour of her husband, Pastor Saeed Abedini

Let me start with a word of background. Saeed Abedini converted from Islam to Christianity in 2000. In 2002 Saeed met Naghmeh, an American citizen who grew up in Boise, and together they became active in the Iranian house church movement. They married in 2004 and left for the U.S. when the Iranian government cracked down on this movement in 2005. When Saeed returned to Iran to visit family in 2009, he was detained by authorities and forced to sign a pledge to forgo any house church activities. At this time, he was told that he could return to the country to engage in non-sectarian humanitarian activities.

Saeed gained dual citizenship in 2010, becoming an American citizen. In 2012, while in Iran to work on an orphanage, Saeed was arrested, tried, and given an eight-year prison sentence for his involvement in the house church movement. For the next three years, Naghmeh worked tirelessly to free Saeed, holding gathers of supporters and meeting with political leaders. Her drive was unshakeable. But then, this past November, something unexpected happened.

In November, Naghmeh announced that she was taking a step back from her activism to focus on herself and her two children. In emails to her supporters she mentioned, for the first time, the abuse that she had suffered at Saeed’s hands since their early marriage. According to a November 12th Christianity Today article:

In two emails to supporters, Abedini revealed details of her troubled marriage to Saeed Abedini, an American citizen and pastor imprisoned in Iran since September 2012.

Those troubles include “physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse (through Saeed’s addiction to inappropriate contentography),” she wrote. The abuse started early in their marriage and has worsened during Saeed’s imprisonment, she said. The two are able to speak by phone and Skype.

Touring the country to advocate for Saeed’s release while coping with marital conflict proved too much, she wrote. She told supporters she’s withdrawing from public life for a time of prayer and rest.

“It is very serious stuff and I cannot live a lie anymore,” she wrote. “So, I have decided to take a break from everything and seek the Lord on how to move forward.”

In a statement released on November 13, Naghmeh expressed some regret:

“I regret having sent the emails,” she said in a statement released Nov. 13 through the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). “I was under great psychological and emotional distress. I am now taking time off [from public advocacy for her husband’s release] to heal and to rest and to spend much needed time with my kids.”

. . .

“I would appreciate for those who care about Saeed and our family to give us time for rest and healing and to respect our privacy,” Abedini said through the ACLJ. “I will continue to pray for my husband’s release and advocate for him as he suffers in an Iranian prison for his Christian faith. I would also ask others to join me in continuing to pray for his release.”

That Naghmeh later regretted her emails isn’t surprising. Many people questioned her decision to go public with her allegations of abuse, given that Saeed was still in prison in Iran at the time, expressing concern that efforts to free Saeed might be hurt by her revelations. Naghmeh was in a very tricky situation—she was expected to show unqualified support her husband through his unjust imprisonment, even as he continued to abuse her.

After a year of negotiations, President Obama arranged a prisoner exchange and Saeed was released from prison on January 16, 2016. Naghmeh’s years of tireless advocacy had paid off, and Saeed was coming home. But this also meant Saeed was returning to a wife who had only months before revealed his abuse to their supporters. Naghmeh initially expressed optimism about the future of their relationship:

“Please pray for us as we will be spending weeks or possibly months healing as a family and going through counseling. I am thankful for Franklin Graham for coming along side our family through these next steps of the difficult journey ahead,” she said.

“I am believing in a miracle for our marriage. We need your prayers more than ever. The enemy wants to bring division and destruction. Please pray that we can heal and move forward united as a family,” Naghmeh continued.

But this initial optimism soon faded. On January 27th, less than a week after Saeed set foot on American soil, Naghmeh released this statement on her Facebook page:

Dearest Friends,

Saeed landed in Boise yesterday and had a wonderful reunion with the children. They will be spending more and more time together in the coming days. I am so happy for this long waited reunion and for the joy that I see in my children and in Saeed. Nothing can make me happier than seeing those whom I love be happy and free from the pain that they had been under for the last 3.5 years.

I am so thankful for the thousands of people who have responded to my pleas and helped work toward Saeed’s release. His imprisonment was unjust, and was an extremely difficult ordeal for him and all of us who sought for his release. I worked tirelessly night and day toward that end for three-and-a-half years. Nothing has made me happier than seeing Saeed freed from his chains and in American soil. Thank you for all of you who stood with us and made this happen.

I do deeply regret that I hid from the public the abuse that I have lived with for most of our marriage and I ask your forgiveness. I sincerely had hoped that this horrible situation Saeed has had to go through would bring about the spiritual change needed in both of us to bring healing to our marriage.

Tragically, the opposite has occurred. Three months ago Saeed told me things he demanded I must do to promote him in the eyes of the public that I simply could not do any longer. He threatened that if I did not the results would be the end of our marriage and the resulting pain this would bring to our children.

I long more than anyone for reconciliation for our family and to be united as a family. Since Saeed’s freedom I have wanted nothing more than to run to him and welcome him home It is something I dreamed about the last 3.5 years. But unfortunately things did not work out that way and our family has to work through reconciliation. I want our reconciliation to be strictly based on God’s Word. I want us to go through counseling, which must first deal with the abuse. Then we can deal with the changes my husband and I must both make moving forward in the process of healing our marriage.

In very difficult situations sometimes you have to establish boundaries while you work toward healing. I have taken temporary legal action to make sure our children will stay in Idaho until this situation has been resolved. I love my husband, but as some might understand, there are times when love must stop enabling something that has become a growing cancer. We cannot go on the way it has been. I hope and pray our marriage can be healed. I believe in a God who freed Saeed from the worst prisons can hear our plea and bring spiritual freedom.

I love you all. God will see us through. Thank you for your prayers and support. We need them more than ever.

Love

Naghmeh

Many people asked why Naghmeh stepped back from her public activism for her husband’s release when she did, and why she mentioned her husband’s abuse then and not earlier. This statement makes it clear that something happened in October that changed things for Naghmeh.

Three months ago Saeed told me things he demanded I must do to promote him in the eyes of the public that I simply could not do any longer. He threatened that if I did not the results would be the end of our marriage and the resulting pain this would bring to our children.

This explains why Naghmeh stepped back from public activism for Saeed’s release when she did. It also becomes clear that Saeed has demonstrated to Naghmeh since his release that he has not changed.



According to the Washington Post:


Naghmeh filed for a legal separation in Boise on Jan. 26, five days after her husband was freed in a prisoner deal that included The Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian.

A legal separation agreement would govern custody of the couple’s children while the Abedinis live apart. Naghmeh also filed for a temporary restraining order to keep her children in Idaho while she and her husband work on their future.

At issue are allegations of physical, emotional and spiritual abuse, which Naghmeh says she endured for most of her married life.

On January 28, Franklin Graham posted this on his Facebook page:

I was one of millions of people around the world praying for the release of Saeed Abedini, the American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith. It was an honor to finally be able to meet him last week. This young men has spent 3 1/2 years of his life in jail for his faith, where he was beaten and tortured.

While we rejoice at his new freedom, we now lift him and his wife Naghmeh to the Lord for healing in their marriage. Other than God, no one knows the details and the truth of what has happened between Saeed and Naghmeh except them. There’s an old saying that there are at least two sides to every story. I can tell one thing for sure—not everything that has been reported in the media is true.

As a minister of the Gospel, I have tried to be a friend to both and to assist them in getting Saeed home and in getting access to any help that they may need. Clearly, there is a great need for prayer for their relationship and their family. God has answered prayer by bringing about Saeed’s release from prison, and now, Satan would like nothing more than to continue to destroy their lives. It is my prayer that this will not happen.

Franklin says that there are “at least two sides to every story,” that he knows for a fact that not everything that has been reported is true (despite the fact that he only just met Saeed for the first time), and that “other than God, no one knows the details or the truth of what has happened between Saeed and Naghmeh except them.” In other words, Franklin goes to great lengths to undercut Naghmeh’s narrative.

But Naghmeh has something other women in her position generally don’t have:

In 2007, Saeed pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic assault in Ada County Magistrate Court. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was suspended, and placed on probation for a year, according to online Idaho court records. The case file was not immediately available for review.~Naghmeh Abedini, Franklin Graham, and the Silencing of Evangelical Abuse Victims

This whole idea that " Satan would like nothing more than to continue to destroy their lives" is such a way to release people from accountability. A personal friend of mine (who also endured domestic abuse for decades) had that same line used against her by her (at the time) soon to be ex on social media. People aren't taken over and controlled by Satan. They make their own choices. "The devil made me do it" just doesn't work (in my belief, anyway).

 

[mkgal1]

that is why pastors are pastors, to lead the flock into righteousness.

....but can righteousness flourish where evil is allowed?

I love the imagery of shepherds caring for flocks of sheep--and we see in the Bible just how dangerous that job is (when David's fighting off bears and lions is mentioned).

In the military and in law enforcement there's a story that's used (written by Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman ) about the sheep, the wolf, and the sheepdog.

--------->One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me:

"Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful.? For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."<---------

I do believe that Pastors ought to aim to be "sheepdogs" in the sense of keeping the wolves away from the "flock of sheep" [non-violently, of course]. I think the best way to do this is to genuinely value integrity (not merely paying lip service to it). It's a systemic issue.....not individual case-by-case issues. Evil will go where it can *hide* (and especially where it can appear "good").