NASHVILLE (TN)
Baptist News Global [Jacksonville FL]
June 26, 2025
By Mallory Challis
One learning lab at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s General Assembly asked attendees to consider what their church would do if abuse happened in their congregation.
Jay Kieve, CBF’s abuse prevention and response advocate, joined attorney David Cooke to talk through the dangers of having a sexual predator in a faith community, reflect on church safety policies and consider the right and wrong responses to abuse disclosures. Kieve and Cooke used a true story, anonymized to protect the identities of survivors, to guide the conversation.
One of the first concerns attendees raised was about the ins and outs of disclosure and accusation, wondering if it would be possible to avoid a “he-said she-said” argument.
Cooke explained that’s often the baseline because sexual abuse survivors rarely come forward about their experiences with perpetrators, and those who do often wait years. The average age of disclosure for childhood sexual abuse victims is 52 — decades after most such events and long after the statute of limitations has passed in most states for survivors to file civil claims against their abusers.
So, the fact that a person is disclosing the abuse in the first place often is strong evidence they are telling the truth, Cooke said. “If they do tell, it probably happened.”
Kieve said his rule of thumb is this: “I start with believing until there’s a reason not to, then I offer some options.”
The pair explained that offering a “victim-centered” approach, where abuse survivors get to choose how to move forward, is the best way to respond. “Giving people the choice is trauma-informed and responsible,” Kieve said.
He also clarified that any disclosures of child sexual abuse should be immediately reported to the proper authorities. While adults may feel safe choosing to forgo legal intervention for a multitude of reasons, children are not safe unless the adults around them make the choice to protect them.
The session also addressed what congregations can do to properly respond to the situation.
“Correction begins with power analysis, then descriptions of boundaries.” Kieve noted. “One thing we have to settle in our minds is that abuse happens on purpose.”
The pair helped attendees consider ways power can be abused and trust can be manipulated by perpetrators seeking access to victims. They also discussed how perpetrators exploit obligation to abuse, such as someone seeking to abuse teenage girls who knows the church is obligated to have a certain number of chaperones at camp.
Kieve and Cooke acknowledged that sometimes abuse can be hard to prevent. But having strong policies both for preventing and responding to situations of abuse — and implementing those policies when necessary — is a helpful way for churches to stay on top of the issue. Are there bylaws that allow a church to disfellowship perpetrators after committing a crime? Are there guidelines that dictate how or if the abuse should be disclosed to the congregation?
CBF offers online resources for helping congregations prevent and respond to sexual abuse.