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Reporting the Truth.
Restoring the Church.

Opinion: How to Find the Cracks in the System (So You Can Avoid Falling into Them)

By Rebecca Hopkins
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Promotional image from the 2015 dramatic film 'San Andreas'. (Video screengrab)

Maybe you’re about to send your teenager on a summer trip to another country with your church or a ministry. Or perhaps you’re thinking of joining a church that seems refreshingly different from the toxic one you just left.

Or you might be considering moving across the country—or across the world—to take a job with a Christian nonprofit that seems to be a welcome departure from the rat race of modern life.  

Adventure. Opportunity. Purpose. A bright future. Those seem obvious possibilities. But what are you missing?

The cracks.

If an assault happens to your teen while in another country, will the leaders report it to authorities? If you uproot your life for an organization, what types of toxicity could you encounter far from home? As you consider joining a faith community, are there enough safeguards to protect you and your family if something goes wrong?

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Some of the cracks are caused by big forces that seem beyond our control like separation of church and state, country borders, and human nature’s propensity to hide wrongdoing. But there are some things you can do to find specific cracks, and then make some choices to avoid them or ask the organization how they’re addressing them.

  1. Ask about the organization’s mandatory reporting policies. This is especially important if the organization does work in other countries that may not have or enforce mandatory reporting. Since there is currently no international mandatory reporting law, the organization has a huge loophole through which they could slip to avoid reporting abuse to any authorities. Make sure you get something in writing from your organization on this. Or if you’re already working there, start a conversation with your managers and team about this.

  2. Inquire about protocol for reporting sexual misconduct. If the organization works overseas, they may have an unwritten culture of not reporting possible criminal behavior to local authorities due to their concerns (warranted or not) over corruption in that country’s justice system. But do they have any protocol to notify any authorities, like the FBI, which sometimes will work with local authorities to investigate crimes? If not, consider the huge crack you or your loved one could fall into if a co-worker sexually abuses or assaults you. You have a right to report a crime to the FBI or local authorities on your own. But if the organization has a policy (possibly unwritten) of quickly moving an accused employee out of the country to avoid scrutiny for both him and the organization, you could lose a chance for an investigation and justice.

  3. Ask for copies of survey results and investigative reports done by consultants, attorneys or third parties. These could point to past failures, and hopefully, recommendations that the organization should be completing to do better.

  4. Request copies of employee or member manuals, including specific ones that pertain to the role you’ll be doing or the location you’ll be working. Some organizations have multiple employee or member manuals, which may even have conflicting information about what is expected. These can point to cracks in which you think you have access to a procedure, resource, or protection, but a conflicting manual may trump those, according to your direct manager. Look also for whether the policies lean heavy toward protecting the organization’s resources or reputation as opposed to offering you protection. A policy that emphasizes conflict resolution, such as a Matthew 18 process, rather than clear abuse reporting protocol and support for employees is a red flag. Lack of whistleblower protection and whistleblower protection that is too narrow (only covers one type of claim like discrimination) are red flags, too.

  5. Ask if the organization has ever been sued. Or look up the lawsuits online yourself. Lawsuits can show how the organization has been negligent in either following its own policies or in following laws. A good place to start looking is the district courthouse of the county where the organization is headquartered. Civil lawsuits are usually public record in the United States and can be seen through online searches. Since you may have to pay a fee for a full copy, ask for the original complaint as a starting point.

  6. Have a conversation with your church’s leaders over power differentials and fiduciary responsibilities, especially pertaining to a pastor’s or missionary’s behavior toward congregants or members. Do the leaders understand the dynamics of Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse, or rather, do they categorize a sexual relationship between a minister and a member as an affair with responsibility assumed of both parties? Do leaders know about rape myths that can mask some instances of criminal sexual assault in otherwise seemingly “consensual” intimate relationships, including marriage?  Knowing your church’s or ministry’s culture and reporting procedure when a pastor or missionary is engaged in sexual misconduct is especially important if you live in one of the 36 states in which ACSA is not yet criminalized, or if you’re serving overseas. Also, ask if the denomination or elders typically restore ministers who’ve engaged in ACSA, and ask what that restoration process is. Find out if they have a zero-tolerance policy including defrocking or decommissioning for such misconduct. Some organizations may simply not know enough about these dynamics, so a conversation with humble, willing leaders could further their understanding to prevent future harm.

This commentary, which was originally published at The Whistleblower’s Guide, does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Roys Report.

Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.

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7 Responses

  1. In regard to mandatory reporting laws, this isn’t just an international issue. In the US, states have different mandatory reporting laws, including some states not making churches/clergy mandatory reporters (such as in my state, Kansas). If you are traveling or moving to a new state, researching that state’s mandatory reporting laws might be a wise idea.

  2. Another – ask yourself (can do a quick search) if your money would be better used by sending it to a well-vetted cause actually making things better for the lives of those who live where you plan to send your kids–or yourself. A family member sent their very privileged children to a near-by country to “help them appreciate what they have.” They gave out coloring books (their description) and met “a lot of really cute kids.” Another went to a remote country in Asia and was very quiet about the trip. When we finally got to ask about it in a smaller group setting he said, “well, pretty good but a serious language barrier–we did dig a well, but when we arrived they set their shovels down for us, and standing back with folded arms watched the Americans work.” I remember my days as a missionary child and the spurts of visitors who came, and went, and left feeling they were helping. Nice to see interesting peole, but most were understandably clueless about the culture and challenges that really existed. Money for needs identified by the community would have been a lot more helpful. Short term missions work is highly problematic in a multitude of ways.
    Exporting American evangelicalism’s inherently self-promoting practices has to be evaluated with more scrutiny than short-term missions tourism typically is held to.

    1. As another missionary kid, I would add that so many people who came to visit or offer short term assistance were not able to adjust to the cultural differences and sometimes you could feel the disgust at the different standards of living they were subjected to. So that kind of harm, having outsiders (who thought they were well intentioned) was surely not beneficial.

  3. Don’t underestimate the critical importance of seeking God’s will in prayer. I was once ready to move several states away to join a small women’s ministry before I understood how toxic and unbiblical it was. As I sought Lord, He showed me in my spirit that I was to stay put and I am so grateful He did. I continued to be involved by traveling there occasionally and evenually came to see, by God’s grace, how off it was and discontinued my participation. That was a very big “WHEW!”

  4. Tourism is an excellent way to describe this. Despite the good intentions of these would be missionaries, often times it’s tourism was a churchy stamp of approval.

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Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “Healing What’s Within” by Chuck DeGroat.