SBC Abuse Helpline Provides Support for Victims, Guidance for Pastors
Reporting an allegation of abuse in a church can be confusing, even intimidating. A helpline operated through the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (ECAP) in partnership with the Southern Baptist Convention's Abuse Prevention & Response office is providing support for abuse victims and guidance for ministry leaders.
Live personnel can be reached at 833-611-4357 (HELP), with email responses available through [email protected] or online forms. Jeff Dalrymple, who directs the SBC's Office of Abuse Prevention & Response, said calls to the helpline from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Monday through Friday are met with a live voice, and outside those times someone responds within 24 business hours. The initial call-taker triages the call, gathering who is calling, what they are reporting, who and what church are involved, the urgency of the situation and whether law enforcement has been notified. The primary call-taker is Southern Baptist and can also speak Spanish.
Manny Keyser, a pastor of Parkwood Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., and executive director of ECAP, who has a background in counseling and traumatology, said many people still hesitate to report, afraid they will make a report that is not right. Helpline workers remind them they are not investigators, police or judges, but people who want allegations reported so they can be taken care of and vetted out. Calls also come from victims of decades-old "legacy cases" who only now feel they can share their story; Keyser said those callers are met with empathy and respect. ECAP also provides the differing state laws on its website and how they apply to sexual abuse reporting.
ECAP also provides ministry leader coaching through the helpline. Chris Pruitt, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., used the helpline's resources when two separate allegations related to former staff came to his attention. The tools and steps offered to better care for abuse survivors helped him prepare, he said: "The helpline was amazing, and pastors need to know it's available." Dalrymple said churches are assigned a coach who remains with them as long as the church needs them, in a program that starts with the basics of frontline worker training, including abuse prevention training, mandatory reporting and crisis communications. Preparation of the helpline also includes training for call-takers, working with attorneys and developing protocols for scenarios such as a caller expressing suicidal ideation.
(Source: Baptist Press)
Source: Baptist Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于田纳西州 Nashville 的第一浸信会 Capitol Hill 教堂。Mx. Granger 摄，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill, in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo by Mx. Granger, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
