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Congregation leaders suspect a child is being mistreated in her home but aren’t sure what to do, so they remain silent. A child is sexually assaulted by an adult who warns him that he’s a sinner and will be in trouble if he tells anyone. An adult reveals to a pastor that he has abused a child, but she isn’t sure whether she can break clergy confidentiality to report the abuse.
As the church is called to welcome children as Jesus did, so, too, is it called to recognize the tragic realities of the many forms of child abuse and neglect in the United States today. The new ELCA social message on “Child Protection” offers the church guidance on safeguarding children and accompanying those who have been harmed.
The social message, requested by several synods at the 2022 Churchwide Assembly and adopted by the ELCA Church Council last November, lifts up the theology of the church’s call to protect the most vulnerable among us and gives practical resources for congregational policies that will help the ELCA do so.
“Many in the church wanted to do something about child mistreatment and neglect, but they weren’t sure how to do it,” said Ryan Cumming, ELCA program director for theological ethics. “One of the big takeaways with the many interviews we had, feedback we received, and learning and discernment that the church engaged with [is that] child maltreatment isn’t inevitable. We can do something about this.
“It’s the first time any major denomination has issued a theological statement on child abuse.”
“We can take steps to prevent it. We can take steps to respond in healthy and helpful ways if we have the information and resources that we need. People want to know how to accompany victims but weren’t sure how. The church is called to do something about this, and it can.”
Victor Vieth, who helped develop the social message, called it the most consequential document on child protection in church history. Vieth, director of the Center for Faith & Child Protection at Zero Abuse Project, has always worked at the intersection of religion and child protection, first as a prosecutor and now as an adviser to prosecutors and investigators.
“It’s of great historical importance,” said Vieth, who attended Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. “It’s the first time any major denomination has issued a theological statement on child abuse. It’s pioneering, the language, that we will place the protection of the child above confidentiality. You’re obligated to report, whether you are in a state that requires it or not. God has made you a mandated reporter.”
Vieth said he’s in the group of child abuse experts who believed that if ever a document was developed in the Christian community about child protection, theological engagement had to be a primary factor. Most abusers within the church incorporate a religious aspect in their abuse, he said, telling child victims, “You’re sinful. You’ll hurt the church.”
“Second, the church fails to deal with child abuse,” Vieth continued. “There are reports, somebody’s saying they were abused as a child, and [the response is,] ‘The devil is engaged here to try to keep us from paying attention to the gospel’—thus no action. Third, we know from the body of research that the answer to bad theology is good theology, especially trauma-informed theology.”
A clear policy
The social message includes a section defining various forms of child mistreatment and statistics about its prevalence in the United States. It also includes a section on the failure of faith communities in their response to reports of child neglect and abuse, and the ways that interpretations of Scripture or religious belief have been used to justify or encourage physical abuse.
The message lifts up a different theological teaching, Cumming said.
“As Lutherans, we look at Scripture through the lens of the gospel and Jesus’ treatment of children—we see a very different scriptural and theological perspective,” he said. “One of the steps the social message lifts up is teaching—teaching actively to counter the misrepresentative of Scripture that seems to allow for abuse. And equipping teaching and preaching to address Scripture that seems to allow for the maltreatment of children.”
The final section of the social message includes practical policies for faith communities, including guidance on reporting child neglect and abuse and implementing congregational policies to help protect children. These include screenings and background checks for adults working with children, policies guiding pastoral care and worship, and guidance about advocacy for public policies that help protect children.
There is also an extended appendix offering fuller descriptions of some of the policy recommendations.
Kendra Stea, ELCA director of misconduct prevention, assists bishops and synod staffs, as well as pastors of individual congregations, in dealing with claims of misconduct.
The social message makes clear that all pastors and congregation leaders, even in states that don’t require it, must report allegations.
“I’m getting tons of calls about mandatory reporting all the time,” she said. In some states, by law, pastors and congregation leaders are required to report allegations of child neglect or abuse to the proper agencies or authorities. The social message makes clear the ELCA policy that all pastors and congregation leaders, even in states that don’t require it, must report allegations.
Stea said she and a small team are preparing a tool kit to accompany the social message that will include training and policy templates for faith communities. Some synods are requiring congregations to update child protection policies, and she believes more synods may begin to do so.
“It certainly is important that our church is a safe sanctuary for people,” she said. “[In] churches without policies, because they don’t think it will happen here or it’s not a priority, we see child abuse or neglect happening. It’s a commitment to our children. We owe it to them to protect them. And it’s a way of giving children agency and a voice if we put those policies together.”
Cumming said the prevalence of various forms of child neglect and child abuse is deep.
“One of the things that was surprising and distressing in this process was the number of people we heard from who were alleging abuse,” he said. “Or trying to share something had happened and didn’t know who to go to. Or sharing stories of abuse that happened with leaders in worshiping communities.
“[Not everyone realizes] how urgent and important it is for the church to confront this and to offer what the church is called to offer … protection, words of grace, care, concern and connections to the resources to help.”
Learn more
Read about why Kim Bate, vicar of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Palmyra, Neb., calls this social message “the greatest gift I’ve ever received in my life.”
