One leader’s call to prevent sexual exploitation in the church

One leader’s call to prevent sexual exploitation in the church by practicing accountability, transparency

By Gregg Detwiler, Founding Director and Consultant for Intercultural Ministers

Editor’s Note: When male Christian leaders abuse their power and sexually exploit women, the trauma has a devastating impact on the victims, rippling out through the broader community. Underneath these moral failures lies a culture of silence and secrecy. Gregg Detwiler, founding director and consultant for Intercultural Ministers at the Emmanuel Gospel Center, argues that the absence of safe, transparent spaces where leaders can process their struggles is a systemic issue. Sharing from his own life and ministry, Gregg encourages Christian leaders to walk with others in accountability and transparency as they seek to minister to others.

Many in the Christian community have been rocked by the recent revelation of the secret life of sexual sin and abuse by the renowned Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias. This tragic failure follows in the wake of other well-known leaders such as Bill Hybels. Both of these cases involved abuse of power, and in Zacharias’ case, sexual exploitation and assault on multiple women whom he violated and now face horrific trauma. We lament the pain, loss and devastation of these survivors and pray for their healing and restitution.

But the culture of silence and secrecy that incubates such predatory sexual exploitation is not limited to just megachurch pastors and leaders of large international ministries but also shows up in local congregations. There are ample examples of lesser-known local leaders who have joined the ranks of those whose lives of secret sin and abuse have been exposed. To add to this, there are leaders who have secretly struggled with depression, with some who have sadly succumbed to suicide. While the pressures associated with COVID may have exacerbated these problems, this spiritual malady has extended well beyond the current moment.

You can read the full article at Gregg’s blog at GreggDetwiler.com.

Gregg Detwiler

Prior to joining EGC in 2001, Gregg Detwiler served as a church-planting pastor of a multicultural church in Boston, and as missions pastor of a suburban congregation. Today Gregg works with leaders from many cultures, offering research, training, consulting, networking and collaborative outreach. Originally from Kansas, Gregg graduated from Evangel University and the Assemblies of God Seminary in Missouri. In 2001, he earned a D.Min. in Urban Ministry from Gordon-Conwell. Gregg and his wife, Rita, live in Greater Boston and have three children.

3 Movements Against Gender-Based Violence in the Church

3 Movements Against Gender-Based Violence in the Church

by Rudy Mitchell, Senior Researcher

The #MeToo movement has brought unprecedented public awareness of the scope of sexual assault against women in the U.S. experience. These three additional movements bring to light sexual and gender-based violence in the Church.

#ChurchToo Movement

Image from #ChurchToo: A Conference on Responding to Professional Sexual Misconduct, Columbia Bible College, March 25-46, 2018.

A nod to the extremely popular #MeToo movement, Emily Joy and Hannah Paasch coined #ChurchToo to emphasize that sexual grooming and abuse happen in church too, and are often covered up or sometimes even rewarded by those in power.

Read about the origin of the Twitter #ChurchToo movement

Read a Sojourners reflection, "Listening To and Addressing the Reality of #ChurchToo," from December, 2017

#SilenceIsNotSpiritual

The #SilenceIsNotSpiritual Twitter movement “calls on evangelical congregations and leaders to speak up and act on behalf of victims of gender-based violence who fear their stories will end up ignored or marginalized.”

“This moment in history is ours to steward. We are calling churches, particularly those in our stream of the Christian faith [evangelical churches], to end the silence and stop all participation in violence against women,” the statement reads.

WeWillSpeakOut.US

WeWillSpeakOut.US is a movement of diverse faith groups from across the U.S. joining together with other leaders for action and advocacy to end the silence around sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). 

WeWillSpeakOut.US produces "One in Three: Preventing Sexual Violence in Our Communities. A Guide to Help Faith Leaders Educate Congregations and Communities about Sexual and Gender-Based Violence." It includes guides and ideas for three sermons.

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