Sexual Abuse...Still Yet An Issue Within The Church

Most of our readers know that this blog and its contents are strongly positioned against clergy and church related sexual abuse and SINS. If you are new and don't know the issues, or are unaware of the issues, please feel free to click HERE to read some of the past articles I have written over the years and from time to time. 

Let me be clear, my issues are not with church transitions, such as the fiasco currently rumbling within the Grand Ole Church as it pertains to the church of deceased Bishop Hutchins and General Board Member Brandon Porter...in short, other than the spiritual welfare and stability of all them involved, I COULD REALLY CARE LESS. I don't care who takes over or who does what, wins what, is appointed to what, or what the national church is doing during the election process either. None of those issues  "float my boat", although I stop short of saying that any of those issues are unimportant. They are important, just not to me and this blog...and I don't care to waste my or your time on those issues, at least, not at this point. 

What Is A Matter Of Importance???

What matters to me is how churches prevent, handle, and respond to clergy and church related abuse and sexual abuse, and even church related crimes such as those alleged by a former COGIC Pastor (notice, most are always known as "former" when their garbage comes out) Bobby C. Smith whose case will finally hit open air next week. If you didn't know about this case, it is a matter of PUBLIC INFORMATION, here is the video in summary on this case from one of the only current voices I respect exposing these devils. You know him as "Dawson Speaks"

I mean this is SAD!!! Dawson said it all, but after digesting that complete and utter FOOLISHNESS and pathetic self exalted and out of control FREAK-COONERY, I guess maybe we can get back to the point of this article....My Lord, that garbage is like getting stuck in a quick-sand tar pit....

A Second Pandemic?

As a result of the primary pandemic of covid-19, there was a second pandemic of child and female abuse as well. There are a growing number of studies and research being conducted on it but it is notable that sexual abuse and abuse in general within society rose to all time high levels.

According to an April 2020 article at NPR:

                 "By the end of March, with much of the country under lockdown, there was a 22% increase                     in monthly calls from people younger than 18, and half of all incoming contacts were from                     minors. That's a first in RAINN's history, Camille Cooper, the organization's vice president                     of public policy, tells NPR.

                 Of those young people who contacted the hotline in March, 67% identified their perpetrator                     as a family member and 79% said they were currently living with that perpetrator. In 1 out                     of 5 cases where the minor was living with their abuser, RAINN assisted the minor in                             immediately contacting police.

                 "As a result of looking at the information that we had from those sessions, it was clear that                     the abuse was escalating in both frequency and severity," Cooper says. "So a lot of the kids                     that were coming to the hotline were feeling pretty vulnerable and traumatized. And it was                     a direct result of COVID-19, because they were quarantined with their abuser. The abuser                     was now abusing them on a daily basis."

According to the United Nations, violence against women during lockdowns was notable all around the world:

"Across the 13 countries surveyed, 2 in 3 women report that they or a woman they know has experienced violence at some point in their lifetime. Nearly 1 in 2 report direct or indirect experiences of violence since the start of the pandemic. 

The most common form is verbal abuse (50%), followed by sexual harassment (40%), physical abuse (36%), denial of basic needs (35%) and denial of means of communication (30%). Seven in 10 women surveyed believe violence against women is common in their community.

Most women believe that COVID has made things worse. Nearly 7 in 10 women think domestic violence has increased during the pandemic, and 3 in 5 think sexual harassment in public has increased. In many cases, heightened demand for shelters and other forms of support has remained unmet due to operational constraints.

For Romela Islam, the abuse by her husband began long before COVID-19. But it was not until December 2020 that she and her 4-year-old daughter were able to escape. Islam found refuge at a women’s shelter, and the two have begun to build a new life. Reduced shelter capacity, however, means many women have not had this same chance."

While much of this abuse and violence took place within the context of families and isolated groups, the church, even though most went online for services and just threw away any biblical and traditional  design for worship for fear of infection or running afoul of the socialist oriented governmental fearmongering (fyi: New Bethel COGIC NEVER closed)..in all of that, sexual abuse still managed to increase, wives and children still managed to be abused, raped and everything else that displays the sin-sickness of society. 

The question is, how did the church expect to escape the same results or similar increases in ungodly behavior since in nearly every category, including this one, the church mimics society?

Is It A Cover-up Or Just Plain Old Silence?

Since my first article in 2007, which dealt with the absolute embarrassing Freak-Coonery of Junaita Bynum (1 or 2 or whomever she claims to be at present) and Mr. Weeks, with the exception of Dawson, since the disappearance of Eder DL Foster of Witness Freedom Ministries who also started the "Report COGIC Abuse" website (which is no longer a website although information on Elder DL and his actions can be found HERE,) external reports of sexual abuse and clergy misconduct (SIN) that have taken place within COGIC led or affiliated churches have virtually disappeared and vanished from the internet. This is amazing!

Are we to imagine that the church, our church in particularly, which had a case of sexual abuse and pastoral degeneracy on the scene almost every month for a time, is somehow an anomaly and completely free of sexual abuse, pastoral misconduct and other sins? Maybe its a miracle that a church that had, over many years, been confronted with Pastoral sins and abuse, and either excused themselves from more than a few sexual abuse cases, suddenly was healed overnight and now nothing is wrong and everyone healed and made whole???

NO! We know better. If we don't we should. There is simply a tighter lid on things. People are being instructed to be silent and victims still yet being shamed when information is brought forth, so much until others fear to say anything. Fact is that sinful behaviors still and yet exist. 

I never have solicited anyone to contact me or I Am My Brother's Keeper Christian Advocacy Council with stories just to have a story. I have never attempted to take my articles to any news organizations or condense contents into a best selling book...although one or two regarding other subjects are on the way...In fact, I have NEVER taken a payment or promise of position for silence on issues or subject matter pertaining to COGIC or any other church, pastor, preacher, teacher or organization...and further will NEVER be engaged in such. 

This is why it is disturbing that if persons such as myself and others don't drive issues, or  bring them up in public, you'll not see issues going anywhere. You'll see business as usual continue as if nothing is wrong. 

Current Actions

Believe me, I love our Presiding Bishop J Drew Sheard. He is a very encouraging friend of this ministry and me personally. However, I DID NOT fail to send him a victim's advocacy proposal by parcel delivery shortly after he was inaugurated as our Chief Apostle. As of this writing, I cannot say that I have heard from him regarding my proposal, the information I sent or any other policy regarding this issue, however I cannot say that he is not concerned about the issue as well...I do know this...he is one of the ONLY Bishops in this church that extended his ministry to me, without reservation, when I called upon him some years back regarding unrelated issues. However, the Presiding Bishop is not the King of this church and this is not a "totalitarian church. There are many others, that are aware of these efforts who haven't lifted a hand or finger to assist, promote or develop plans on the issue. I am confident that if this church moves in this area, it will be under his leadership and direction and will move many years into the future to both heal victims and stop church related abuse.  

What Can YOUR Church Do?

Since our initial efforts, the Grand Ole Church has implemented background checks and sexual harassment training and even adopted an impromptu (at that time) written sexual harassment policy (as I found out during a deposition in a pastoral case) While those are at least positive things, there is much more that can and should be done. The good news is that each church does not have to wait for the national church to take positive steps to address the issues. Every Pastoral leader in the country can undertake agenda to make their church a truly SAFE CHURCH environment that will serve and advocate for survivors of sexual abuse.  

First,  I contend and always have believed that the church must first make themselves accountable to teach, and train each congregations on the issue and issues involved. It goes without saying that folk need to be SAVED first, but even in that, many people have been taught wrong views on church leadership, marriage and interaction within the church. For example, a popular bishop in Detroit once taught that a husband and wife shouldn't even kiss, to keep from giving rise to "the flesh". Now, that is a ridiculous sentiment, but how many people may have actually believed and adopted that garbage into their marriages? And how many marriages were exposed to FREAK-COONERY in part because of bad and unwholesome teaching???

Secondly, while this may be embarrassing to some, as a matter of Christian education we cannot function within modern society without knowing this information and the problem. The church must require pastoral and ministry training on issues of sexual abuse on an ongoing basis, and consistently teach leaders and lay-members how to diminish the environmental potential within each church for such sins to occur.  Something as simple as rotating ministry leaders, especially youth leaders, every 6 to 12 months could not only save children from abuse but also save ministries from public embarrassment. Third, setting up internal councils of review and implementing a national victims advocacy (NOT PERP) policy,  and victim focused resolution teams, could allow the church to actually minister to her most venerable and those healing from these sort of sins.

There is a lot more that we must do than have church in every major city, raise money, spend money at hotels, play music and shop, IF our mission and goal is to be like Jesus and HEAL & SAVE The Lost!

This is an issue that is not important until it is you or someone you know at the center of abuse. That is why it is good to lay a foundation now. To set things in order and to do RIGHT before the Lord. No matter how many singers we have, NO SONG washes away the fear, shame and utter helplessness of sexual abuse and church related abuse and misconduct. 

Quick Word: Many of you who have experienced this type of abuse or grooming are too embarrassed to speak up because you don't know how you allowed this to happen. I want you to know, no matter how it happened, it was wrong then and it is wrong now and no matter what, YOU need healing and GOD has healing for you. No minister or church personnel was every authorized by God to abuse and or take advantage of you or your family in any way. There is strength, help, hope and healing and a BALM in GILEAD. Call today (800)730-2990 ext: 802

Blessed!