Despite the occasional rancorous session meeting, we don't usually think of "violence" and "church" as words that belong in the same sentence. But the people of God are not immune from some of the darker impulses found in human beings. Next time you're in congregational worship or at a presbytery meeting, look around, and think: some, maybe several, of the individuals present have at some time in their lives been victims of sexual or physical abuse.
We know that because members, elders, pastors and other clergy told us so on a 1999 Presbyterian Panel survey. Overall, as the figure shows, more than one in nine members and one in seven pastors report a past experience with sexual or other physical abuse.
These rates are not unusual in the United States. According to the Census Bureau, the reported incidence of child abuse and neglect is 5 percent, the same as that found among members.
The figure doesn't tell the whole story, however. Others have been affected by emotional rather than physical abuse. One in ten members and 15 percent of pastors report that they experienced childhood emotional or verbal abuse. Another one in nine in both groups report emotional or verbal abuse from a spouse or other partner.
Also, some, maybe many, Presbyterians who have not been directly abused know someone whose life was changed by interpersonal violence. Almost one in five members, for example, report a close friend, relative, or church member who has been raped, and one in six, a close friend, relative, or church member who has experienced child abuse.
Because of their ministerial role, clergy are especially likely to have such "secondary experiences" of violence. Large majorities of pastors report encountering a church member who has experienced childhood physical abuse (63 percent so report), sexual abuse (72 percent), or partner abuse (62 percent). More than half of pastors have counseled a church member victimized by rape.
A helping hand is important, but most panelists think the church can and should do even more. Mary Richmond, an early American social worker, once wrote that you can keep pulling people out of the ditch or you can find a way to fill in the ditch! Large majorities in every Panel sample agree (many strongly) that congregations "should be provided with resources to educate us about interpersonal violence" (90 percent of members so respond) and that "worship should include sermons on interpersonal violence" (74 percent).
Presbyterians know that violence can and will happen to people in the church. That awareness and the ability to act on it are needed for change. Together with education, prayer, and support, the church has the tools not only to pull people out, but to begin to fill in the ditch created by violence in our society.
For more information on the Presbyterian Panel survey on Interpersonal Violence, see the summary online.
Email the author: Jack Marcum
Research Services