Faith Based Policies & Procedures

We are humbled in service and proud to announce the formation of a new, vital partnership of faith and facility as part of this community’s fight against the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. As a follow-up to the recent Keep Maine Kids Safe Conference hosted by First Baptist Church of Portland and Stop Trafficking US, our mission is to provide resources to the faith community joining with us in addressing this vile epidemic. Please share this with your lay ministers, youth leaders, and key staff. Understanding the church’s exhortations to the human conscience and its duty to guide its congregants and society at large, we are compelled to engage with our communities and invest in the spiritual and temporal health of God’s people. As such, it is critical that church leaders develop and enact appropriate policies addressing the prevention of and response to suspected or disclosed abuse of children. This protocol not only applies to the ministers, staff and volunteers within the church, but to its congregants and outside involvements as well. Failing to report or otherwise enact appropriate child protection policies not only subjects the faith community to civil lawsuits but also blatantly shirks a responsibility to our children which falls squarely upon our shoulders.

Three experts in child sexual abuse prevention within faith based organizations came together to create a zoom educational video for your review. Shira M. Berkovits, Esq., Ph.D. is the president and CEO of Sacred Spaces, creating sacred spaces in Jewish institutions. Victor Vieth, Director of education and research at the Zero Abuse Project.  Finally, Boz Tchividjian, (who by the way, is Billy Graham’s grandson) Executive Director of G.R.A.C.E. (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christain Environment). This video will provide insight into the reality and impact of child sexual abuse in faith based organizations; and how each of us, as trusted leaders, can communicate with congregants and followers, and establish a tapestry of response from our community to protect the most vulnerable among us. 

Stop Trafficking US is a non-profit 501c3 established in 2015 by survivor Catherine Ann Wilson to raise awareness, educate and mobilize the people of Maine to stop the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. EIN 47-4939009