The Anglican Communion, in its work to address the issue of abuse, held a conference September 5-11 to offer practical help.
The Church of the Province of Central Africa led and organized this vital safety conference, which drew 220 clergy and laypeople from 30 countries and 28 provinces. They met at King’s Kraal in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, for “Leading Safer Churches: Power and Vulnerability in Church Life,” which was co-sponsored by the International Safe Church Commission of the Anglican Communion, the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, and the Episcopal Ministry team of the Anglican Communion Office.
“What is happening in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, is remarkable and very encouraging,” said Bishop Justin Holcomb, a leading anti-abuse advocate and teacher. “I’m honored to be a part of this important event, to represent the Diocese of Central Florida, and to bring greetings from the diocese. I [spoke] briefly twice at the conference and helped facilitate discussions with the many bishops in attendance on leadership, trust, transparency, power, and pastoral care needs for survivors.”
The Anglican Communion Safe Church Commission’s work has come in response to repeated formal and informal requests from bishops within the communion for guidelines and resources for implementing abuse solutions. Due to longstanding concerns about unclear safeguarding measures in the global south and reeling from highly publicized abuse cases in Ghana, Nigeria, and a recent case in England, the communion has renewed its commitment to safety.
In the aftermath of the 2022 Lambeth Conference, safety has become a high priority for the communion. The Lambeth Call on Safe Church called for renewing the communion’s focus on “implementing effective responses to abuse; adopting and promoting standards for the practice of ministry, assessing suitability for ministry, and promoting a culture of safety.”
In an effort to “forward the initiatives and outcomes from the Lambeth Conference into the life of the Anglican Communion,” the Lambeth Conference Phase 3 steering committee began meeting in February 2023 and will continue meetings through 2025. These meetings included a Safe Church webinar on April 17, hosted by Holcomb.
“Leading Safer Churches” set out with the goal of raising awareness of abuse within the Anglican Communion, and it appears to have succeeded. The Safe Church Commission has spent the past two years building online resources and disseminating them to bishops and provinces where it is most in need, as safeguards and guidelines vary in effectiveness across the communion. Most participants left the conference with a strong sense that it was successful in achieving those goals.
Garth Blake, chairman of the Safe Church Commission, says the conference exceeded his expectations. For that week, the group engaged in theological reflections on vulnerability, pastoral care, and the mission of the church, spoke on the challenges of forgiveness, engaged in Morning and Evening Prayer with opening and closing Eucharists, explored Safe Church guidelines approved by the Anglican Consultative Council, and worked to equip participants with practical solutions.
“They really understood the concepts,” Blake said. “I don’t think we were persuading people who didn’t have an understanding of the importance of protecting people and responding appropriately. I think we were just equipping them with steps to implement a system. They understood the concepts of power and vulnerability and the need for pastoral care. I didn’t come in with an idea where they were at, but it was an encouraging outcome for me. … I think people were enthusiastic and wanted to learn. They wanted to go out and do something. I think this province is likely to become a model for the rest of the communion.”
He added: “Some dioceses or provinces have very little in terms of safeguarding or procedures. We did things like going about developing codes of conduct. If you’re running a youth camp, what are the practical measures to protect participants? We looked at issues surrounding pastoral care and what assisting abuse looks like. What are the key elements of a disciplinary process? It was aimed to be very practical and non-theoretical.”
Cleophas Lunga, Bishop of Matabeleland, Zimbabwe, told TLC that one of the leading issues with addressing abuse in the Global South is navigating the culture of interdependence that flourishes in Africa and Asia. Victims struggle to address their experiences due to fears of disrupting the whole network of support and neighborliness they rely on heavily in daily life. People look after each other and these systems are good, but this makes it a sensitive and disruptive issue to discuss abuse,” Lunga said.
“The conference experience affected me and other attendees in that the recognition of abuse was acknowledged as a reality,” Lunga said. “It affirmed that there is a need for healthy relationships, and the desire for it has been silent as there has been a culture of silence in reporting abuses. Sharing experiences and expressing need for relationships characterized by the love of Christ will gradually transform the culture of silence in reporting abuse. We experienced that the strength of the communion is much more visible and tangible when gatherings are organized and conversations are facilitated for specific purposes. The outcomes are clear. … I am glad people feel assured that the conference would not interfere with good systems of dependence, but to point out that abuse is a reality everywhere.”
He added: “The biggest takeaway from my time at leading Safer Churches is that while the commission and its work is appreciated by many, it is by an equal measure that it is misunderstood as limiting the influence on evangelism. People find it difficult to freely give their time and energy to something voluntary but with certain conditions. What surprised me was the way the attendees embraced the presentations and only worked forward and not against. The preconceived notion by some delegates was that safeguarding is not an African concept. The surprise was in that in the flow of the discussions in which the majority were from the African continent, there was an acceptance that abuse is a reality and has to be addressed.”
