COLUMBIA, Md. (BP) – Michael White, pastor of Freedom Church in Lincolnton, N.C., was a bit tense on Sunday, Sept. 24, the first-ever “Caring Well Sunday” on the SBC calendar.
“I always feel a sense of nervous anticipation as I prepare to preach, but this Lord’s Day, there was also a heaviness and roller coaster of emotion,” White said. Caring Well Sunday was added do the SBC calendar in an effort to bring awareness to the issue of sexual abuse. White acknowledges it’s a difficult topic, but also a necessary one. Talking about it is a step toward providing a safe place for victims to grieve and heal.
“Providentially, as the service began, I bumped into two of the survivors known to me. They offered words of encouragement and support, which brought tears to my eyes and more waves of emotion,” he said. “As I preached, our church was sober and engaged; the weight of the moment was palpable.”
For the sermon, White chose to share a tragic account of sexual abuse in the Old Testament.
“Genesis 34 details the rape of Jacob’s daughter Dinah, his failure to care well for her, the attempts by the perpetrator and his father to cover up the situation and move on from it, and finally, her brother’s vengeful, over-the-top response,” White said.
“It is one of the darkest chapters in Scripture, and my heart was heavy just sitting with the brokenness Scripture so vividly depicts.”
White spent time and careful effort preparing the congregation for the sermon. He first reached out to the sexual abuse survivors he was personally aware of.
“These were tender exchanges filled with encouragement,” he said. “Each survivor was grateful we were preaching on and drawing attention to this pervasive issue, and they assured me of their prayers.”
He also passed the sermon manuscript on to the leader of the church’s Caring Well Team and to the elders for feedback. Additionally, the church included a carefully worded caution about the sensitivity of the issues that would be shared, and they provided an additional children’s church class for first through fifth graders. To further alert the congregation, White recorded a video message for social media that gave insight into the content of the sermon.
White said the response to the sermon was uniformly positive.
“Survivors – including some who I’d just learned were survivors – expressed their gratitude for our care in tackling this issue,” he said. “A number of others shared their appreciation to be in a church that does not shrink back from engaging the hard and broken things.
“Frankly, it was a dizzying few days as we shepherded those who had concerns about the sermon and also as I cared for those who disclosed their abuse to me for the first time.”
Keith Myer, pastor of Harvest Church in Salisbury, Md., and the author of a motion adopted at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim to place the emphasis day on the SBC Calendar, said the number of disclosures has been one of the surprises for many who participated. He and almost all of the pastors he spoke with had women who came to them and shared that they were abuse victims.
Aware of that possibility, Phil Graves, pastor of First Baptist Church of Brunswick, Md., addressing his congregation on Caring Well Sunday, said: “We are responsible to make sure those who are under our care are protected.”
He read from Psalm 82:3-4, “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
“If you are being abused in any way, I will believe you,” Graves told the congregation. “And I will help you. If you need a place to stay that is safe, we will help you. We will listen, believe and help you.”
Randall Blackmon, pastor of Faith Fellowship Church in Cambridge, Md., told his members Caring Well Sunday gave churches the “opportunity to acknowledge … the emotional toll of sexual abuse.”
“We are committing to ensuring our congregations are a safe place for people who have been abused, not just sexually, but in any way,” he said. “We’re putting a spotlight on this issue so we can help those who have gone through that trauma to come forward to seek healing from all forms of abuse.”
Myer said that though it’s impossible to gauge how many churches participated in Caring Well Sunday, he has sensed disappointment from some in what they see as a lack of response, but he understands.
“Many pastors don’t know how to start and need time to let it sink in and time to learn,” he said. “And it takes time to be informed.” He added that he believes participation will grow over time.
“Some pastors really didn’t hear about it or they meant to do something and forgot about it,” he said. “In our culture … with so many series and programs, it’s easy to do.”
Others may be afraid, he said, of causing offense or dredging up painful memories.
White said it remains to be seen how the Lord will use what they did on Caring Well Sunday in the life of Freedom Church, but added: “Caring Well Sunday was first a chance for us to lament – to weep with those who weep and to long for the return of Jesus, our righteous judge, who will care for the vulnerable and forever end injustice. And it was also an opportunity to take another step toward being a Gospel people – that is, a people who really believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can heal our most painful wounds, remove our deepest shame, cleanse our dirtiest moments and make us whole.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Sharon Mager is communications specialist for the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.)
