More than a policy

Faith strives to be a safe and healthy church community where abuse itself becomes unthinkable and where survivors feel supported and safe.

Policies are helpful and necessary tools (in fact, you can read ours here), however they are just one tool. The greatest resource to our congregation is all of us being united to prevent abuse and caring deeply about the well-being and wholeness of all who attend our church.

Our desire is to move from minimal awareness and prevention to full orbed:

1. From a regular required training in policy to equipping our children with knowledge and skills to keep themselves safe, and nurturing a greater attentiveness and commitment within our communities to abuse prevention and response.

2. From being primarily concerned about legal requirements to attending to the dynamics of power and control within the church community.

3. From rushing toward the pursuit of forgiveness and reconciliation to listening, caring, recognizing harm that may have occurred, as well as participating in processes that lead to the person who caused the harm to acknowledge and take responsibility where harm has occurred.

4. From conflicts dividing us through ongoing arguments or disengagement to seeking to be a restorative congregation where the truth of what happened may be spoken, those who have caused harm take responsibility, and restoration is a goal for our life together as a church and as a society.

A Primer

Are you looking to understand more about abuse? Here is a good place to start; simply click on the link below.

• I want to know more information about child abuse.

A word…

to survivors of abuse

We grieve with you over what you experienced.  What that abuser did was wrong.  God hates it, and so do we.  (Psalm 64, Jeremiah 17:9-10, Malachi 2:13-16)

It is not your fault. Nobody deserves to be abused.  Please do not feel ashamed for what someone else chose to do to you.  

Abusers inflict physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or financial wounds that can last a very long time.  Those wounds may make it hard to believe the love of God found in Jesus Christ.  Please know that God’s love is real and His victory is certain (John 16:33), even if you cannot sense that right now.

The people and leadership of Faith strive to provide a safe and healthy place where you can heal.  We know this will take a while.  We hope consistently to demonstrate God’s love and truth – in action and in word – so that you will find strength in Him.  By God’s grace, we hope that you will come to know that the evil done to you is not the end of your story.  

Faith seeks to ensure that any victim of abuse receives immediate, appropriate, and confidential pastoral care, financial assistance as able, as well as referrals to professional counseling services. Faith also realizes that secondary victims, such as friends and relatives, may also need support and/or pastoral care. 

However works best for you, please let us know your story.  We want to help.  You have several ways to get in touch with church leadership.  Please visit our contact page to learn about those.  We hope you will use whichever route makes you most comfortable.  Include a friend or family member, if you wish.  

If you ever suspect that one of our church leaders has abused someone, please – for the sake of Jesus Christ and his church – report it.  

In addition to reporting crimes to law enforcement and seeking the aid of community resources on abuse, you also can report suspected abuse by an elder or pastor at Faith to:

• the Stated Clerk of the Georgia Foothills Presbytery in the Presbyterian Church in America,

• any Faith elder or pastor, or

• any member of the Safety Board,

and suspected abuse by a deacon or non-ordained leader at Faith to: 

• any Faith elder or pastor, or

• any member of the Safety Board.

For more information, see our Safe Church policy.