UNITED STATES
Christian Today
Billy Graham’s grandson on Josh Duggar and Karen Hinkley: churches must protect victims, not offenders
Carey Lodge CHRISTIAN TODAY JOURNALIST 02 June 2015
Boz Tchividjian has accused the Christian community of acting “contrary” to the gospel in response to cases of abuse.
The grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, and executive director of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, Tchividjian made the comments in an interview with the Christian Post. He told the website that churches are guilty of sacrificing the safety and care of abuse victims “in order to protect the reputations of individuals and institutions”.
“This sacrifice is most commonly demonstrated through ignoring or marginalizing victims and protecting offenders,” he said.
Churches should not be safe havens for perpetrators, but rather the place where those who have experienced abuse “feel most safe and most loved,” Tchividjian added, encouraging churches to take on a “gospel-centered approach”.
“My prayer is that one day churches will be the place offenders feel the least safe knowing that the church is vigilantly watching over its children and won’t hesitate to report suspected abuse to the God-ordained authorities. I think Jesus requires nothing less of us.”
Abuse in the Church has made headlines in recent weeks following the news that a Dallas megachurch put a woman under discipline after she filed for annulment when her husband confessed to watching child pornography. The Village Church, led by Matt Chandler, eventually issued an apology for the way it treated Karen Hinkley. “In every way that we’ve mishandled this situation, along with others in the past, we repent and ask for forgiveness,” an email to church members said.
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