Thirteen years ago, Church Law & Tax conducted a survey project aiming to determine how often various types of sexual misconduct occurred in church and ministry settings.
Looking back, the results were not as comprehensive as we would have wished. Still, we were able to make several general conclusions at the time, including one heartbreaking finding: though rare, sexual harassment still happened in churches and ministries. The attorneys and church leaders we interviewed about the survey said it was an alarming reminder of the need to adopt and follow sexual harassment policies, and provide training to address the problem.
Fast forward to today. The rise of the #ChurchToo movement continues, and mandated harassment training requirements have begun to emerge in a small-but-growing number of states. The combination of these developments encouraged us to revisit this difficult, but important, topic. Throughout 2020, you will see articles and resources from Church Law & Tax addressing it further.
You can play a direct role helping us with this coverage, too. We recently launched a new survey that we believe will help us more directly gauge the occurrence of sexual harassment in churches and ministries. Responses will be kept strictly confidential. And participants will receive a free download resource in exchange for their time spent assisting us. Please help us today by completing the survey.
Also this week:
The Lord bless you and keep you,
