Greetings from El Paso! I’m in this beautiful city with our Border Encounter team: Darin and Brendan Hamlin, Megan Johnson, Bethany Kriss, Laura Niver, Caroline Secrest, Russell Vick, and the Rev. Scott Buckhout (who is scouting out the trip for our sister church, Restoration). Over the next three days, we will travel across the border to learn together about the complex situation facing migrants.
Our host, outreach partner Abara, has three goals for these trips:
Narrative Change (changing the story we tell about immigration);
Systems Change (understanding root causes and asking how we can participate in long-term solutions); and
Personal Change (allowing ourselves to be spiritually formed by the experiences and people we encounter).
Please pray for these changes in each of us as we process all that we see!
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On Sunday, I made a brief announcement about an investigation into past sexual abuse at another church in our diocese, The Falls Church Anglican. I first announced this investigation back in November. That investigation has now concluded, and you can read the full report here. It is heartbreaking reading. Many, many people have been directly or indirectly harmed by the abuse that took place, including some in our community. I am incredibly grateful for the courage all of those who came forward to shed light on this painful matter, both in this investigation and in 2021 and 2007.
Our Bishop has written a pastoral letter to everyone in the diocese regarding the release of this report. He has asked that all churches read this letter aloud on Sunday, April 28. We will do so, and will also make printed copies available over the next few weeks.
In the course of my ministry, I have listened to many stories of childhood sexual abuse (as well as other forms of abuse) and its significant, long-lasting impact. I have wept, prayed, and walked with people who are slowly coming to terms with past trauma. And I’ve also slowly come to terms with my own trauma, as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse myself. It’s a wound that is always healing, never healed (at least not on this side of heaven), and my view of God and the priesthood has been shaped by this experience. You can probably hear this in my preaching, as I so often emphasize the incredible human capacity for evil; the profound vulnerability of our human condition; and the wondrous reality that our God chose to descend to that abyss of evil and vulnerability in the person of Jesus. And Jesus is with us there still, and his resurrected body still bears the scars of earthly trauma.
Every Sunday, we gather to worship this Jesus — risen, wounded, and with us. We make every attempt to protect the safety of all who gather. The Safe Community page on our website details Incarnation’s policies on child protection, sexual harassment, and abuse. It also contains a link to an excellent white paper on trauma safety in churches. But these policies are only effective when we actually abide by them, and so I encourage you to familiarize yourself, to raise questions, and to identify gaps and failures when you see them. I will close with a quote from that white paper:
“We live in a world that is east of Eden, that is, a world that is fallen, full of horrors, and full of trauma-responses that humans experience toward the evil that is encountered. When violence comes—whether war, domestic violence, political captivity, sexual abuse, or anything else—our God-given inclination is to survive. The methods we use to survive often leave life-long scars on mind, brain, and body. The violence and threats we experience, especially when extreme, are called traumatic events. When these threats overwhelm our normal coping capacities, this creates posttraumatic stress.
The church today is increasingly traumatized and traumatizing. There seems to be no end to “scandals” and “moral failing” of major Christian leaders, and this leaves many Christians disenchanted, disillusioned, and deconstructing their faith. We are beginning to confront violence and abuse with which we do not know how to cope. What is worse, when trauma and abuse happen in the church, our failure to respond appropriately as members of Christ’s body means that we perpetuate a double-harm for trauma survivors:
“If no one remembers a misdeed or names it publicly, it remains invisible. To the observer, its victim is not a victim, and its perpetrator is not a perpetrator...the suffering of the one and the violence of the other go unseen. A double-injustice occurs—the first when the original deed is done, and the second when it disappears.” (Miroslav Volf, The End of Memory)
. . . Jesus Christ has promised in his holy gospel never to leave or forsake his church but to be with us to the end of the ages (Matt. 28:20). Christ has promised not to leave us as orphans but to send the Spirit of love into our hearts by which we may call God our gracious and righteous Father and become partakers of God’s triune life and love (John 14; Rom. 5; 2 Pet. 1). The church therefore is first God’s work before it is ours, and we love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). Creating trauma-safe churches today is possible through God the Trinity’s healing works of life, light, and love among us. This will lead us to the principles and practices of a trauma-safe ministry that is governed by the light and love of the triune God of grace."
Amen.
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If any of this news stirs painful memories from your own story, or if you have questions about our church's approach to abuse prevention, please reach out to me or Katie for a walk, coffee, prayer, or chat.
With love,
Amy