This translation is not completely accurate as it was automatically generated by a computer.
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A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
7:00 A.M. EST May 24, 2011
Valli Batchelor introduces the book “When Priests and Pastors Prey,”
during the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Kingston,
Jamaica. A web-only photo by Peter Williams/WCC.
A book focused on the prevention of the sexual abuse of women by
clergy in all cultures was launched during the May 17-25 International
Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Kingston, Jamaica.
“When Priests and Pastors Prey,” published by the World Student Christian Federation,
includes stories from women survivors of clergy sexual abuse, research
from pioneering experts and theologians, calls for action, reflections
from different regions around the world, and examples of best practices
in churches and religious groups.
The Rev. Darryl Stephens, sexual ethics coordinator
for the denomination’s Commission on the Status and Role of Women, said
the book provides a way to move discussion of the issue beyond the
United States.
He said the book includes a range of contributions by people around
the world that adds legitimacy to the commission’s ministries.
“Recent research indicates that more than 95 percent of victims of clergy sexual exploitation are women,” writes Valli Batchelor,
book project coordinator, in the introduction. “These victims are often
so trapped in confusion, guilt, shame and self-blame that they are
unable to see themselves as victims.”
Christians need to face honestly the reality of abuse, she says.
Sexual abuse is not just “an affair” between a clergyman and female
parishioner; it is an abuse of power.
Batchelor was one of 13 men and women honored as “Movers for Gender
Just Peace” by the World Council of Churches. Part of the strategy for
action through the council’s 2001-10 Decade to Overcome Violence, the
“movers” have raised awareness and trained others for “a movement of
gender justice and the building of just communities of women and men.”
United Methodist contributors
Articles from four United Methodists are part of the book, including
one by Stephens, who helped recruit writers after receiving the call for
papers. He also assisted Batchelor with attaining copyright permission.
Other United Methodist contributors include M. Garlinda Burton, top executive of the Commission on the Status and Role of Women;
the Rev. Sally Dolch of the denomination’s Peninsula-Delaware Annual
(regional) Conference, a member of the Interagency Sexual Ethics Task
Force, and the Rev. Susan Jamison of the Susquehanna Annual Conference,
who has written for the commission on the ministry of sexual-ethics
response teams.
Stephens believes the book will help the commission deal more
effectively with sexual ethics issues in the United Methodist central
conferences in Africa, the Philippines and Europe.
With two annual conference-related commissions on the status and role
of women in Africa, the denomination has had some success in that
regard, he noted.
An African church leader who attended the agency’s “Do No Harm” training event
in Houston in January led two seminars on clergy boundaries in the
Democratic Republic of Congo last month, drawing more than 300 clergy
participants.
Doing justice work outside the United States can sometimes be
difficult for fear of imposing U.S. values or social norms on a culture.
“What this book is saying is this issue transcends cultural
differences,” Stephens said. “Sexual misconduct by clergy is something
we deem unacceptable across cultures.”
Batchelor pointed out that the World Student Christian Federation’s
status as an independent organization “gives it a unique capacity to be
the leader for change.” The federation is connected with more than 100
affiliated student Christian national movements in Africa, the
Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East
and North America.
“Most of the work of justice and advocacy is raising awareness,”
Stephens said. “If this book can help raise awareness, it will help us
create a more just church and help us name the sins and help us address
these issues we’ve swept under the rug for far too long.”
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York. Follow her at http://twitter.com/umcscribe.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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