► Listen on Amazon
► Listen on Apple
► Listen on Spotify
► Listen on YouTube
You can find previous episodes of “The Stone Chapel Podcast” at Lanier Theological Library.
“The Stone Chapel Podcast” is part of the ChurchLeaders Podcast Network.
This episode has been edited for clarity and space.
David Capes
You’re involved, as part of your work, with people who have been injured through sexual aggression and sexual abuse. Tell us about that project.
Christoper Hays
Well, you know, I mentioned at the beginning of this talk that one of the reasons that we’re so invested in majority world theological leaders is because they’re capable of responding to problems that we in the West can’t necessarily solve. One of those issues that we in the West clearly have not been solving is the issue of sexual abuse in Christian communities. There have been all sorts of high-profile cases about this, whether at the denominational levels, think of Southern Baptists, Roman Catholics. There have been high-profile cases of major pastors who have had sexual abuse scandals.
Sexual abuse has been a major problem in the Christian community in the West, and it’s a major problem in majority world Christian communities too, including lamentably in seminaries. And the reality is that sexual abuse in Christian communities is one of the biggest existential threats to Christianity right now. If you follow the literature around the great de-churching, you’ll find out that some people de-church just out of indifference, and other people de-church out of some sort of church hurt.
David Capes
They’ve been hurt by the church somehow.
Christoper Hays
And right at the top of the list of the reasons that people de-church, is out of hurt because of sexual abuse.
David Capes
Is this mainly women who have been hurt through this or women and men?
Christoper Hays
It is men and women. Women are victims of sexual abuse more frequently than men are. But you know, the statistics indicate that actually about one out of six, or maybe even one out of five, men over the course of their life, will experience sexual abuse. It’s become more socially acceptable for women to talk about it. There’s greater shame around it for men, but this is an issue for men and women. So the NO MORE Project is a global project. We have started with an international group, and then we are now working in different regions, which has been looking at the issue of what it looks like to leverage the systems of theological education to help the church be a safer and holier place? And actually, the Lanier Theological Library Foundation is one of the supporters of this project.
David Capes
That’s great. I’m glad to hear that.
Christoper Hays
Well, we are thankful we have these amazing teams that have been working over the last few years. It’s a combination of theologians, psychologists, institutional leaders, pastors, looking at everything from, what are the institutional policies and practices to help your churches and your seminaries be responsible. To how do you do the sort of spiritual and emotional formation to make sure that a seminarian doesn’t become an abusive pastor.
And then we’re creating content for different world regions. Right now, we’ve got teams working in India, East and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North African region to create the content that can address this at every different level of the theological education space, from the local church to the pastor, to the seminary, to even the accrediting association.
David Capes
That’s what happens all the way up the line, right?
Christoper Hays
We want to make sure that all the different layers interlocked together, so that people are working in lockstep, and so that we can have sustainable and scalable change.
David Capes
Right now, you’re working primarily with majority world people to solve their own problems. One of the things I like about what Scholar Leaders is doing is the recognition that they know the context, they know the issues. They are subject experts that we cannot be from the west. And again, we haven’t been able to solve it ourselves. It’s not as if we sorted this out so now let me tell you how.
Christoper Hays
Yes, there are things that people have learned in the West, and there are good practices that are being used in different places in the West that we definitely want to make sure can be made available to majority world folks. But sexual abuse is such a deeply and culturally enmeshed things. It’s related to conceptions of modesty, conceptions of masculinity and femininity, honor and shame, collectivism and individualism. So, you’ve got to be thinking about this one culture at a time. Just because something happens to work in Michigan does not mean it’s going to work in Egypt.
David Capes
Yes, exactly. This is a fairly new program for you.
Christoper Hays
We’ve been developing this content over the course of the last couple of years.
David Capes
If people want to know more about Scholar Leaders, how can they do that?
Christoper Hays
I would be delighted if people went to our website, scholarleaders.org, where folks can learn about all of our different program areas. They can sign up for our prayer community, where every week, they’ll learn about a different theological leader with which we work. I would love it if people wanted to connect with us on social media. We’re on Instagram and Facebook, and you know, we also have this podcast, Faith on The Road, which is a wonderful way to be able to continue to learn not only about who the theological leaders are we connect with, but how they go after issues that matter. Not only to the church
in their part of the world, but to the church in the West as well.
David Capes
Every time I pick up something that has been written or spoken by Christians in the majority world, I seem to learn something. I seem to sense something. There’s a depth to their faith. There’s a depth to their convictions that you don’t often see in the West. The West seems a little bit too loosey goosey with some of these things. Sometimes there’s great maturity there. It’s not just us rushing in to help them sort things out. They are there as brothers and sisters who can help us as we dive deep into theology and church and our own life as well. I’ve learned so much from majority world theologians and practitioners as well. As we close today, let’s talk about the library at Bibliotech. Let’s talk about that.
