Dear Church,

We are survivors of abuse inside churches across the globe, and it is time we have an important conversation. Abuse has been a common occurrence inside your walls, ranging from verbal and emotional abuse to physical and sexual abuse;
(1)

and many of us and others have been reporting what has been happening, so this is not something new. These reports have been treated as isolated instances at best, or absolutely ignored as the victims are silenced and ostracized, at worst.
(2)

But as more and more stories surface, and more and more of us find each other, it’s well past time you face that what you have in your hands is a systemic problem. A problem fueled by some of the doctrine you teach, and the hierarchical systems you’ve set up.
(3)

It is well past time for you to address this, admit you’ve been complicit even if there are no reports at your church, and recognize that you have the influence and power to effect change, and protect future victims.

(4)

The abuse we will describe below is all from actual stories of people who have worked at churches, they have been from people who worked as full time staff, both paid and unpaid, full time and part time volunteers and from members.
(5)

They are not from 1 or 2 churches but at this point hundreds of churches, and we know there are more.

(6)

We define abuse as a pattern of behavior used by one person/organization to gain and maintain power over another person. It’s not just a one-time thing, but instead a pattern of behavior. None of these have happened to people only once.

Verbal and emotional abuse:
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Psychological and mental abuse:
(8)

Identity and cultural abuse:
(9)

Financial abuse:
(10)

Physical abuse:
(11)

Sexual abuse:
(12)

As you can see many churches are not safe spaces for people, and we have no doubt it is your intent and desire to ensure every single person that walks through a church is safe, and protected.
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So for the purpose of ensuring the churches you work at, serve at, and are a member of are safe spaces, we believe churches need to be committed to:

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We believe you can effect real change and ensure your organizations are safe spaces for all in the community, we hope you’ll be able to read this letter with an open heart, and consider what we are asking.

Thank you for your time.
We can be reached at [email protected].