Christian communities are not always safe. “Believers must face the facts”, says Lhen Fabian Beck. Not only the Roman Catholic Church is vulnerable to sexual abuse scandals, but also Protestant churches are also not immune.

The problem is that many church employees do not know how to create safe spaces for children and what to do in case of abuse, says Beck. He is involved in children’s ministry at his church in Hanover, Germany. It was not until he prepared for his ministry that he came across resources from the Federation of Free German Evangelical Churches (FeG) with guidelines against sexual violence against children.

Andreas Schlüter from the FeG for Young Generations says that these guidelines make up part of a broader program, which fits into the trend of more Protestant churches taking measures against sexual assault. “I know that in Germany, all free churches are actively tackling this problem”,…