S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

[Judas Maccabeus]

[quote="Ms. Izzie"
As a side note, we do have many, throwing head coverings, hymnbooks and Martyr's Mirrors in bonfires and walking away (figuratively speaking). I think it would be good to find out why it is this way. I venture a guess that sexual abuse and spiritual abuse are some of the reasons why some people leave.[/quote]

I don’t know, from my “cheap seats” I see far more coming than going, particularly in my circles.

And my SBC friends would just LOVE to have our retention rate.

One abused person is one too many, but I don’t (from my cheap seats here in the pews) see it as a pervasive problem. That there is any of this is totally unacceptable, in our case the leadership, from the bishop on down, seem committed to getting all involved help, and bringing the civil authorities into the situation ASAP.

I wish my former evangelical church did 10% as much.

J.M.

[Josh]

Never thought of that as a possible pitfall, but that makes a whole lot of sense. Abusers seek vulnerable people to prey on, and what better place to find them.

J.M.

I dealt with this firsthand. Eventually, the conference organisers took a position that they aren’t responsible for the safety of victims nor will they ban repeat offenders from their events.

Which conference do you have first hand experience with where they don't take any responsibility for the safety of attendees?

If you'd like more details, I'd be glad to PM with you, email, talk on the phone, WhatsApp, etc.

Just let me know.

In other threads you've told me to quit litigating this in public and not name names, so I'm not going to do so here.

[Josh]

One abused person is one too many, but I don’t (from my cheap seats here in the pews) see it as a pervasive problem. That there is any of this is totally unacceptable, in our case the leadership, from the bishop on down, seem committed to getting all involved help, and bringing the civil authorities into the situation ASAP.

I wish my former evangelical church did 10% as much.

J.M.

J.M., with respect, you really can't say this until you spend some time in some of the other plain circles where these kind of problems are especially rampant.

[Valerie]

One abused person is one too many, but I don’t (from my cheap seats here in the pews) see it as a pervasive problem. That there is any of this is totally unacceptable, in our case the leadership, from the bishop on down, seem committed to getting all involved help, and bringing the civil authorities into the situation ASAP.

I wish my former evangelical church did 10% as much.

J.M.

J.M., with respect, you really can't say this until you spend some time in some of the other plain circles where these kind of problems are especially rampant.

I think we all have a tendency to form opinions, draw conclusions, based on 'our own' experiences and environments-
but we have to be open to the fact, there is much more out there going on, than in our own little corner of the world.
I have read countless posts on MD & MN that do not agree with my personal observations and experiences in the evangelical world- and I am sure, the myriad of heartbreaking stories I've heard from Mennonites, Amish, former Amish & even pm's on the forum (when MD) would cause me to think that the entire Anabaptist community is plagued with these sins- especially when I know one member on here got out of the Mennonite faith just for this reason-
But that doesn't mean, just because of this- that ALL Anabaptism has gone down this path- anymore than one can claim that Evangelicals only do 10% as much to deal with it- both would be untrue.

[Judas Maccabeus]

One abused person is one too many, but I don’t (from my cheap seats here in the pews) see it as a pervasive problem. That there is any of this is totally unacceptable, in our case the leadership, from the bishop on down, seem committed to getting all involved help, and bringing the civil authorities into the situation ASAP.

I wish my former evangelical church did 10% as much.

J.M.

J.M., with respect, you really can't say this until you spend some time in some of the other plain circles where these kind of problems are especially rampant.

I think we all have a tendency to form opinions, draw conclusions, based on 'our own' experiences and environments-
but we have to be open to the fact, there is much more out there going on, than in our own little corner of the world.
I have read countless posts on MD & MN that do not agree with my personal observations and experiences in the evangelical world- and I am sure, the myriad of heartbreaking stories I've heard from Mennonites, Amish, former Amish & even pm's on the forum (when MD) would cause me to think that the entire Anabaptist community is plagued with these sins- especially when I know one member on here got out of the Mennonite faith just for this reason-
But that doesn't mean, just because of this- that ALL Anabaptism has gone down this path- anymore than one can claim that Evangelicals only do 10% as much to deal with it- both would be untrue.

As I said, and you did not read, I was referring to my former church.

J.M

[Judas Maccabeus]

One abused person is one too many, but I don’t (from my cheap seats here in the pews) see it as a pervasive problem. That there is any of this is totally unacceptable, in our case the leadership, from the bishop on down, seem committed to getting all involved help, and bringing the civil authorities into the situation ASAP.

I wish my former evangelical church did 10% as much.

J.M.

J.M., with respect, you really can't say this until you spend some time in some of the other plain circles where these kind of problems are especially rampant.

Why would I want to hop from church to church just to see stuff that should not happen, as I said, and no one seems to pay attention to this is my view from the pews. I don’t church hop, and I think you would be better off if you stuck to consistently attending one church that you can wholeheartedly support.

J.M.

[Valerie]

J.M., with respect, you really can't say this until you spend some time in some of the other plain circles where these kind of problems are especially rampant.

I think we all have a tendency to form opinions, draw conclusions, based on 'our own' experiences and environments-
but we have to be open to the fact, there is much more out there going on, than in our own little corner of the world.
I have read countless posts on MD & MN that do not agree with my personal observations and experiences in the evangelical world- and I am sure, the myriad of heartbreaking stories I've heard from Mennonites, Amish, former Amish & even pm's on the forum (when MD) would cause me to think that the entire Anabaptist community is plagued with these sins- especially when I know one member on here got out of the Mennonite faith just for this reason-
But that doesn't mean, just because of this- that ALL Anabaptism has gone down this path- anymore than one can claim that Evangelicals only do 10% as much to deal with it- both would be untrue.

As I said, and you did not read, I was referring to my former church.

J.M

I did read what you said, but through the years, I've noticed your personal experience not only from where you were, bit also where you attend now, seems to cause you to makeore broad brish statements & assumptions, then what may be accurate by and large.

[Judas Maccabeus]

I can only speak to what I know.

But the experience of one with 25+ years of leadership experience in the evangelical world should count for something.

What I keep hearing is that if one does not “hop” churches and simply does not see evidence of the pervasive abuse some are claiming, they should just go away and shut up.

Silencing people is EXACTLY what some are accusing the community of.

Everyone deserves the right to be heard. I am not shutting up. I just don’t see the evidence of any of this and I am calling that out!

J.M.

[ragpicker]

If you'd like more details, I'd be glad to PM with you, email, talk on the phone, WhatsApp, etc.

Just let me know.

In other threads you've told me to quit litigating this in public and not name names, so I'm not going to do so here.

I don’t remember telling you that. If you could direct me to where I told you to stop naming names, I genuinely would appreciate it.

[Josh]

Why would I want to hop from church to church just to see stuff that should not happen, as I said, and no one seems to pay attention to this is my view from the pews. I don’t church hop, and I think you would be better off if you stuck to consistently attending one church that you can wholeheartedly support.

J.M.

I don’t want to church hop, but the first Amish-Mennonite church I became part of when I became a Christian had a serious abuse problem. It turns out many other related churches did too. I don’t live in PA and didn’t have the option to go to a good quality KMF church.

I have been at my current church for 3 years and a member for a year and a half and have no plans at all to leave or “church hop”.