“The leaders God is bringing into the CRC are drawn to some of our core values,” said Susan LaClear, director of Candidacy for the Christian Reformed Church in North America. ”They rave about our abuse-of-power training and our code of conduct. It makes them feel safe to hear us addressing abuse in the church together and trying very hard to prevent it.”
LaClear shared these words at Synod 2024 in celebration of the new candidates for ministry being welcomed into the denomination, which is also marking 30 years of abuse prevention and response work in the CRCNA.
In 1989, synod convened a committee to study abuse among the membership of the CRC. The results were published in Agenda for Synod 1992, and on June 17, 1994, synod voted to begin the Office of Abuse Prevention to equip congregations in abuse awareness, prevention, and response. In 2009, the Office of Abuse Prevention became Safe Church Ministry, and in 2023 it was folded into Thrive, the congregational ministry arm of the CRC.
Thrive’s abuse prevention and response work helps to build communities where the value of each person is honored, where people are free to worship and grow in faith free from abuse, and where the responses to abuse are compassion and justice to foster healing. Today, Thrive supports more than 200 ministry leaders or churches each year in matters related to abuse awareness, prevention, and response.
There is much to be celebrated about the work of the past 30 years. As abuse continues to be a dark reality of our society, we can be grateful for the work done to create places of worship that are free from harm. Currently, 88 percent of churches in the CRCNA have a safe church policy, and 69 percent of CRCNA classes have a safe-church coordinator. All candidates for ministry are required to take abuse-of-power training, and synod has approved a Code of Conduct for ministry leaders. These are significant advances in the area of abuse prevention and response.
Find the full story at crcna.org/news-and-events/news/30-years-abuse-prevention.