Explanation

Our faith in Jesus Christ teaches us that healing happens through sharing our stories. When individuals are hurt within the church, sharing the story of their abuse is one of the primary means by which individual healing is possible, for both the victim and the church itself, in which the abuse itself took place. God intervened after the Israelites groaned in their suffering, and cried out in their pain (Ex 3:7-9); God does not demand nor desire the silence of the suffering. Again and again, Jesus responded to people who spoke their pain, who cried out in desperation, who sought healing. When Jairus came to request the healing of his little daughter, Jesus followed him, and healed her, even despite bystander intervention and protest. The woman with the hemorrhage insisted on her own healing, and Jesus did not shame or belittle her in response, nor deny her healing. Instead, he honored her with the title “daughter,” and showed that it was her rude insistence that made her healing possible. Christ heals in public, rather than in private, even when that incurs criticism or fear. What cannot be spoken cannot be healed. It has become a matter of course for dioceses and parishes to agree to NDAs in civil settlements arising from misconduct by clergy, both by preying upon others, as well as by neglecting to protect those for whom they are responsible. These provisions protect the institutional church and the perpetrators of misconduct, but prevent those who have been hurt by the church from sharing their stories, and, in some instances, from healing from the violence done to them as a part of their ministry (both baptized and ordained). This constitutes a second wounding for these individuals, on the part of the church, in preventing them from being open about their traumatic experiences. It also serves to protect the perpetrators of violence through forced secrecy, and can lead to others being hurt by the same individuals. Guaranteeing the right of victims to speak without fear of retaliation by their perpetrators or by the institutions of the Church provides both a means for continued healing on the part of those who have been hurt in the Church, and can also provide a means for protecting others who have not yet been hurt, through raising awareness of the issues that the Church continues to confront in ministry, and through making available a parallel process to formal mechanisms by which information about perpetrators is shared. This resolution states clearly that The Episcopal Church, through the instrument of the General Convention, abhors this circumstance, and calls upon the dioceses of the Church to institute policies that protect the right of victims to share their stories, both for their healing, and for the sake of reconciliation with the Church.