How Humilty Increases Church Safety

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Does your church or ministry struggle with physical, emotional, or spiritual safety issues? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison and I’m so glad you’ve joined me today. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission on this podcast is to find actionable steps to improve every aspect of safety in our houses of worship and beyond. We’re going to do that by investigating The Unlovley Truth about real crime news stories happening in real churches. I’ve got new cases to investigate together, so let’s dive right in. 

 

Big Questions from this episode include:

 

• What kind of abuser is worse - a priest who sexually abused children, or the priests who knew, and did nothing?
• Why are more than 500 people asking Father Barry Stechschulte of St. Susanna Church in Mason, Ohio to resign?
• Labor trafficking doesn’t happen in faith communities…does it?

 

James 4:17 NLT

 

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Avoiding doing evil is obviously a very good thing. But James takes things a step further here. He says very clearly that avoiding doing good is a very bad thing. Those are some pretty tough words, but all of us who are believers need to take them to heart! 

 

In one sense, the book of James is a call to action. He tells us to be doers of the word and not just hearers (James 1:22). James also says that we should take action to meet people’s needs (James 2:16) as well as being sure to humble ourselves (James 4:10).

 

This may upset some of you, but I have to say that I think that our churches, and of course that includes the people in them, need a healthy dose of humility. Pride can keep us from recognizing problems and taking steps to fix them. Let’s not ever get so protective of the reputation of our church that we protect it at the expense of the safety of our people. 

 

Let me know what you think of this episode! Send me an email at lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have hard, but impactful conversations that strengthen physical, emotional, and spiritual safety at the intersection of faith and true crime.

 

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker or ask about my coaching services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com. 

 

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovely Truth:

 

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Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches. 

 

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