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No More Secrets!
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.
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:
- To protect others.
- To support the establishment of denominational policies that effectively address the healing processes of member, victims/survivors and perpetrators.
- Turn the Seventh-day Adventist Church in to 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 focased solely on the S.D.A. 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.
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