Preventing Abuse

Helping Churches Create Safe Spaces Where All Can Flourish.

CBE directs much of its attention to how churches address the abuse of women. Both secular and Christian humanitarians increasingly acknowledge the influence of faith leaders in promoting the dignity and agency of females.

Faith leaders can be critically important in the lives of domestic violence victims who are trying to understand what is happening to them and looking for a way to escape violence and abuse. A compassionate, informed, and effective response by faith leaders and communities can promote critical healing and recovery. It could be lifesaving for survivors and their families.

CBE recognizes that pastors and lay leaders need equipping as they also work to create a culture that promotes the flourishing of women as equals. Therefore, CBE desires to provide these leaders with egalitarian resources.

CBE has published Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Faith Communities that addresses the issue of abuse. Exploring the link between views about women’s worth and the consequences of their devaluation, Created to Thrive aims to create safe spaces where all can flourish.

Created to Thrive explores the multiple facets of domestic abuse and its prevention and is meant to be a catalyst for equipping and further study. The contributors, each highly qualified in their profession, tackle topics related to abuse, exposing the myths and dangers, and proposing remedies. Our hope is that the information offered in Created to Thrive brings awareness and transformation to churches, organizations, and individuals and serves as a stepping-stone to greater flourishing.

In addition to Created to Thrive, CBE released a companion workbook entitled Nurturing Women’s Equality: A Church Evaluation Tool. We developed this resource to help churches and organizations evaluate their community and identify practices which may inhibit them from nurturing men’s and women’s gifts, service, and shared leadership in advancing the gospel.

Central to CBE’s mission is a desire to eliminate the power imbalance between men and women resulting from Christian patriarchy. These resources are steps toward that mission. Both resources highlight the specific ways churches can support and promote women as equals.

Your gift will help us distribute and spread the word about CBE’s new book and evaluation tool so churches can create safe spaces where women and men flourish together.