Clergy and Educator Abuse Survivors Empowered!

Clergy and Educator Abuse Survivors Empowered!

 
 
Information
What C.E.A.S.E. Can Do

Clergy Sexual Abuse
written by Fran Park

Spiritual Healing for Survivors of Clergy Sexual Abuse
written by Dee Miller

Some Sad Statistics on Abuse

'Especially for You' Retreat Weekends

Prevention

Seventh Day Adventist Resources

Other CSA Resources

Survivors-N-Thrivers

Mission Statement

C.E.A.S.E. has been created by victims/survivors of sexual, physical and spiritual abuse committed by employees and volunteers of the world-wide Seventh-day Adventist Church (see disclaimer). Devoted to educating church leadership about the prevalence of these abuses within the denomination, we want to bring about changes to church policy in order to protect others from the devastation we experienced.

Through networking with other victims/survivors, we can be more effective agents for change within the denomination. Through learning that our stories are not isolated, WE can become less isolated emotionally which will have an exponential impact on our individual healing processes.

 

Background Information

Abuse is made possible by secrecy and shame; healing can be made possible by the honesty, courage, pain and anger we can channel toward reaching the following goals:
  1. To protect others.
  2. To support the establishment of denominational policies that effectively address the healing processes of members, victims/survivors and perpetrators.
  3. Turn the Seventh-day Adventist Church into an UN-safe place for perpetrators by educating members about prevention and protection.
Although abuse happens in every denomination, C.E.A.S.E. is limited to the SDA denomination for several reasons:
 
Adventists hold in common many unique doctrines and beliefs, often striving to be "different" and set apart. 
By choice or perceived necessity, many Adventists have isolated themselves and their institutions from the larger community of Christianity which has resulted in a prevailing belief that the SDA church is not susceptible to abuses plaguing other denominations. 
The lack of effective administrative procedures for helping primary and secondary victims/survivors heal from abuse within the denomination has resulted in the silencing of victims/survivors who are too intimidated and traumatized to speak out publicly about the injustices that they have suffered at the hands of "God's ordained". 
Some victims/survivors were betrayed by the SDA doctrines that were used by perpetrators to manipulate and control them within the context of Adventism. 
As victims/survivors, we need a vehicle to call for change within the SDA denomination and a venue for our voices that will be received by conventional Adventist organizations, institutions and publications as only a publication dedicated to "Adventist" sensitive issues is capable of.

How you can become involved

There are many organizations which are effectively working in this field and Advocate Web provides avenues for these organizations to reach victims/survivors.  C.E.A.S.E.'s internet presence is supported by AdvocateWeb which is a non-profit organization and we encourage you to support Advocate Web.  Additionally, we welcome your contribution of resources, suggestions, needs, questions etc. for this website and encourage you to help us reach more victims/survivors and church administrators by suggesting links for C.E.A.S.E.

Editor’s Notes

I started C.E.A.S.E as a tool for my own healing. I am a survivor of sexual abuse which was perpetrated by a Seventh-day Adventist academy religion teacher/school pastor. This charismatic minister used the Bible to manipulate and control me emotionally, spiritually and sexually for more than 10 years. When my husband and I began the process of confronting this abuser and having this ordained minister fired from his ministerial position, we discovered the unfortunate reality that my story was not unique within the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.

It is our hope that C.E.A.S.E. will be a means to connect primary and secondary victims/survivors of abuse perpetrated by employees and volunteers of the S.D.A. denomination; to give us all a voice and help us protect others.

Victim/Survivor Defined

A victim/survivor is a term used in C.E.A.S.E. materials to refer to someone who has been abused. At some point in the healing process, persons who have been victimized begin to thrive and identify themselves as survivors. However, use of the term "Survivor" as a label will not feel satisfying if it is used too soon. Each person will determine, in their own time, when they have made the transition from victim to survivor. There does not seem to be a correlation between the label one chooses and the type of abuse, length of the abuse, or other factor.

Abuse Defined

This term is used to encompass a wide range of boundary violations, including but not limited to:
 
Sexual abuse of children and adolescents. 
Adulterous behavior with a client (if clergy is providing counseling), parishioner, employee or student, regardless of the age of the victim. 
Inappropriate emotional attachment or control of a person in a position of power, authority and trust, over a vulnerable, younger or less seasoned client, parishioner, employee or student.

About wawknboots@ceaseabuse.org

This is a private e-mail address dedicated to C.E.A.S.E. and mail is confidential. Only those items marked "for publication" will be published online. If you wish your name to be included with your submission, please so state or your name will be omitted. The address "wawknboots" is based on the Nancy Sinatra song "These Boots are Made for Walk'n" because that's just what my boots are do'n!

Walk On!

 

 

Also, check out:

AdvocateWeb - Helping Overcome Professional Exploitation