Caring Well for the sexually abused in the era of COVID-19

When the COVID-19 crisis struck America it caused a disruption in all of our churches. It also has drawn attention away from another crisis that we were just beginning to address: the crisis of sexual abuse in our churches.

Last year, in response to the abuse crisis, the Southern Baptist Convention launched the Caring Well Challenge (CWC). The goal of the CWC is to equip churches to be safe for survivors and safe from abuse. The program provides churches with an adaptable and attainable pathway to immediately enhance their efforts to prevent abuse and care for abuse survivors.

The eight steps involved in the CWC are: Commit, Build, Launch, Train, Care, Prepare, Share, and Reflect. Here are some ways you can implement these steps during the pandemic.

The first step is to sign up for the Caring Well Challenge to ensure your church receives updates and resources throughout the year for accomplishing the next steps. If you haven’t done so already, you can sign up here.

This Week at the ERLC

The ERLC released the free Caring Well Hiring Guide. The guide will be an incredibly practical tool that churches can use as they hire new personnel.

Chelsea Patterson Sobolik has an article on Uighur women in National Review.

What You Need to Read

Ryan Tucker and Travis Wussow with What’s next for religious freedom in Nevada?

The First Amendment provides broad and strong protections for religious exercise, and governments should ordinarily avoid any interference with a church’s worship practices. Indeed, religious freedom is a foundational, bedrock right that must be respected by our governing officials.

In certain cases, a person may be presented with information that clearly demonstrates the contradictory nature of their beliefs and, against reason, fail to reconcile the contradiction. This is what is known as cognitive dissonance, where a person holds two or more contradictory views at the same time. And in our modern society, abortion is perhaps the most stunning example.

Churches across the nation are diligently working to minister in the midst of COVID-19. As churches determine their method of meeting for the fall, some may attempt to establish in-person meetings, some will continue virtual gatherings for an extended period, and others have developed hybrid plans for gathering similar to school district programs. Regardless of the meeting venue, churches should be as diligent about guarding against sexual abuse as pre-COVID-19.

News From Capitol Hill

Each August while Congress is in recess, we take a break from our policy focused episodes on the Capitol Conversations podcast in order to interview leaders we admire. We call this series August Profiles.

These conversations with friends of the ERLC are a lot of fun. Last year, we began with profiling Russell Moore on his journey from Mississippi to Washington as the ERLC president. Then, we interviewed Justin Giboney of the And Campaign and Jennifer Marshal Patterson, formerly of The Heritage Foundation. This year we interviewed:

Bill Wichterman, a former Bush Administration official who found God's call for his life while on the mission field

Shannon Royce, a senior leader at the Department of Health & Human Services whose career has been defined by service to the vulnerable

Benjamin Watson, a former NFL player who is a leading voice in America on fatherhood and convictional kindness on controversial issues

D.J. Jordan, a PR executive who is passionate about foster care and adoption

We walk away from each conversation inspired by their stories and reminded of God’s faithfulness. We know you will too.

If you have a drive or some spare time over this holiday weekend, we hope you’ll enjoy these podcasts with leaders we admire.

Subscribe today to Capitol Conversations to get the latest episodes delivered to your phone right as they release.

Featured Podcasts

On this episode of Signposts, Russell Moore is joined by Pastor Max Lucado to talk about his latest book You Are Never Alone. Lucado is the Teaching Minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, and the author of over 40 books. Lucado says he “writes books for people who don’t read books." Every trade book Max Lucado has written during the last 30 years began as a sermon series for his home church Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas.

Each August on Capitol Conversations, we take a break from our usual policy focused conversations and host interviews with leaders we admire. In this last week of summer before Labor Day, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik sits down with Shannon Royce, Esq., who serves in the federal government as the Director of the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

From The Public Square

Court: School transgender bathroom policy unconstitutional
Ben Finley and Denise Lavoie, Associated Press

A federal appeals court has ruled that a Virginia school board’s transgender bathroom ban is unconstitutional and discriminated against a transgender male student who was barred from using the boys bathrooms in his high school.

House set to vote on marijuana legalization
Natalie Fertig, Politico

The MORE Act would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and erase some cannabis criminal records. The vote will come during the September work period, according to an email Majority Whip Jim Clyburn’s (D-S.C.) office that was sent to members Friday.

Texas renews court effort to ban abortion procedure
Kevin Mcgill, Associated Press

Texas officials are trying to get a federal appeals court’s permission to enforce a ban on a commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure, even though the court has not yet ruled on its constitutionality.

Kentucky AG Says Closing Religious Schools In COVID Pandemic Is Unconstitutional
Howard Friedman, Religion Clause

Last month, Kentucky's Attorney General issued Opinion OAG-20-13 (Aug. 19, 2020) concluding that state or local officials may not order the closure of religiously affiliated schools that comply with reasonable social distancing and hygiene guidelines during the COVID pandemic.