CBF partners with G.R.A.C.E. for abuse prevention

Sep 30, 2020 | CBFSC

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship entered a covenant partnership this summer with GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) to offer safeguarding training and other resources to CBF churches.

The CBF / GRACE partnership will train 6 to 8 CBF clergy as “safeguarding specialists” to work with CBF-related congregations. In a pilot project associated with the new partnership, churches that agree to become “certified safeguarding congregations” will have their fees offset by CBF as leaders in the movement to prevent abuse.

The GRACE safeguarding initiative is a six month process during which congregations receive leadership training, policy development support, a campus safety consultation, support for conversations with children and teens, and an all church training. Congregations learn the biblical mandate to care for children and other vulnerable people, common tactics of abusers and the dynamics of abuse, and how to report and respond well.

“I’ve followed the work of GRACE for several years,” CBFSC Coordinator Jay Kieve said, “and I believe they are the best organization to provide this leadership for CBF congregations in South Carolina and beyond.”

If your church is interested in joining the GRACE safeguarding initiative, contact Jay Kieve for more information: jay@cbfsc.org / (803) 767-3456.

GRACE, founded by Billy Graham’s grandson and former sex crimes prosecutor Basyle “Boz” Tchividjian, is a leader among Evangelical churches for abuse prevention education, policy development, independent investigations, and victim support. Led by a board of experts in church, law, and mental health, the GRACE approach to safeguarding is victim-centered, Biblically driven, and congregational in focus. “GRACE exists to equip the Church with a vision for authentic community, where responsibility, accountability, and compassion are second nature and caring for children and adult survivors of abuse are non-negotiable,” Tchividjian writes at the GRACE website.