Creating safe churches

God intends for the church to be a safe place for all to encounter God and grow into lives of service and fulfillment. We are called to be a holy community.

"As the one who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct." (1 Peter 1:15)

Yet, we live in a broken world, and we know churches are not always a safe place. Sexual misconduct for too long has been an unspoken shame in some churches.

This Web site is designed to help all churches be safe churches. You'll find materials to help at each stage of the process in addressing sexual misconduct issues.

The links at the right will give you tools to create policies, raise an awareness of prevention practices, report misconduct and rebuild a broken trust when sexual misconduct occurs.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has had policies on sexual misconduct for over a decade. Through God's grace we've made good progress in helping all churches to be safe churches. Much work remains to be done.

With God's help, we will see a day when "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24).