In partnership with Abide Network, a counseling and education group staffed by Adventist counselors, Project Safe Church was developed to address reports of sexual abuse within Lake Union churches. This system means that any time someone experiences sexual abuse within the church, whether from a church employee or volunteer, a report can be filed on a secure website.
Debbie Michel
November 18, 2020As clergy sex abuse continues to explode in the headlines, the Lake Union is pushing forward standards detailed in a video, with the goal of guiding our church’s efforts to protect its members.
In partnership with Abide Network, a counseling and education group staffed by Adventist counselors, Project Safe Church, as the initiative is known, was developed to address reports of sexual abuse within Lake Union churches. This system means that any time you or someone else experiences sexual abuse within the church, whether from a church employee or volunteer, you can file a report on a secure website at www.projectsafechurch.org and fill out the simple, confidential form. Once filed, the report will be handled by trained, qualified volunteers.
Here’s how the system works:
1. File a report at projectsafechurch.org. Alleged victims may file a report on our secure website. The individual will then be placed with what is called a Concerned Care Practitioner (CCP).
2. The CCP will help the person develop a written report.
3. The written report will be given to a Sexual Ethics Committee.
4. SEC will gather evidence and make recommendations to the Conference Executive Committee (CEC).
6. The CEC carries out appropriate measures, or in the case of volunteers, the local church carries out the recommendations. This system lifts the burden of handling these delicate cases off the shoulders of local pastors, with whom there is sometimes a conflict of interest and a difficulty in terms of experience in handling these cases.
Below is the video with more details on Project Safe Church.
