“The Prayer for the Election of a Bishop or other Minister” (Book of Common Prayer, 818) concludes with the following phrase: “that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” Consecrated on June 10 of last year, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb continues to live out the answer to this prayer, particularly through his ongoing emphasis on his safe church initiative.

Two recent events have pointed to the bishop’s care for God’s people in the Diocese of Central Florida: his proactive stance in hosting a May 16 safe church training event in conjunction with GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), “Shedding Light on Abuse: Prevention and Response”; and his appointment, announced during the event, of a diocesan Safe Church Commission, with responsibilities to begin immediately.

The safe church training event was spotlighted in a June 10 Spectrum News 13 story; click here to watch the video and read the article.

Spectrum News 13’s Tammie Fields and Greg Angel reporting on Diocese of Central Florida and GRACE partnering to deliver abuse prevention and response training. | Photo: Screenshot

‘Shedding Light on Abuse: Prevention and Response’

“Safe churches matter,” Holcomb said as he introduced the safe church event’s main speaker, Ms. Laura Thien, a licensed social worker of clinical practice and chair of the GRACE board of directors. “The prevalence of abuse you’ll hear about is staggering; the only thing more staggering is the tragic effects of abuse and the darkness and pain that people feel – emotional, psychological, spiritual – across the board.”

Following the event, the Rev. Canon Dr. Dan Smith, canon to the ordinary, expressed his delight in both it and the response from the diocese. “The primary presenter, Laura Thien, was fabulous: prepared, articulate, absolutely knew her stuff,” he said, adding that “It was so good to see the number of people, and people who had driven for a couple of hours to be there.” In all, more than 100 people attended, including representatives from across the diocese and guests from outside The Episcopal Church.

“This indicates to me that there really is a desire for our churches to be safe spaces for kids, for adults, for everybody,” Smith said. “Thien’s talk was geared more toward keeping it safe for younger people, but it also touched on, at least by topic, things such as elder abuse and various other issues that we need to be concerned about.”

Although the church has had safeguarding and other related trainings for some time, Holcomb’s emphasis takes that to the next level, he said. “My real hope is that this event, coupled with other trainings that we’ll have – and of course our policies – indicate a true desire on the part of the diocese for our congregations to be safe places. Where I really come down is this: It’s not just a training we have to do so we can say we’ve done it, but it’s the life we want to live.”

Topics covered in the two-hour event included understanding the dynamics and prevalence of abuse in faith communities, effective strategies to prevent abuse before it occurs, applying actionable steps to immediately and effectively respond to abuse incidents, and fostering an environment of trust and support within individual faith communities.

In addition to Holcomb and Thien, Mr. Zane Hart, director of development and operations for GRACE, also spoke briefly, emphasizing the opportunity for churches to contact the organization for further support, training and insight. Holcomb also encouraged churches to connect with GRACE, explaining that the organization is currently reviewing all diocesan safe church policies to make sure they align with current best practices.

(L-R) Zane Hart and Laura Thien with Bishop Holcomb at the abuse prevention and response training | Photo: Courtesy Bishop Holcomb

“GRACE is looking at all of those polices on the what-if side, but also very much on the prevention side,” Smith explained. “We’ve had policies about almost all of those areas, but they’re going over them all, making sure they are really up to date. Their expertise will strengthen what we already have in place.”

Professional videos of the safe church training have also been created and will be made available to the deanery deans. “The deans will have access to them and can promote them inside their deaneries, whether for a deanery event or congregational events,” Smith said. “They can make sure that the materials are available as needed.”

He also pointed out that the diocese has also made the new “Safe Church, Safe Communities” curriculum from Praesidium, a set of online training modules available to all congregations. A grid details which church staff and volunteers need to take which module. “Very few, if any, people need to take all of them, but more people need to take at least one or two,” he said. Find the modules and other information at this link; safe church administrators (one per church or school), please contact Ms. Adria Northern, anorthern@cfdiocese.org, for access.

Despite his delight in the training event, Smith had a word of pastoral caution. “One training, as good as it was, does not make us a safe place,” he said. “It’s an ongoing process, and it takes all the various tools that we’re going to be able to bring to the table. It takes the training that we had recently, it takes the Praesidium training, it takes the update of the policies, it takes the formation of a Safe Church Commission, and it takes the individual congregations catching or capturing the vision of what a safe church truly looks like.”

The bishop agrees. “There will be more events like this,” he said of the May 16 training. “This was just the start. … This is not a one and done.” He also emphasized the ecumenical nature of both the event and the diocesan safe church initiatives, inviting those from outside the diocese to request the diocesan policies after review and revision by GRACE.

“We do want to work, and we’re already working with, other Christian groups, other denominations,” Holcomb said. “I’m going to have non-Episcopalians on the Safe Church Commission as resource consultants, as ecumenical representatives.”

The impact of his safe church passion and expertise extends well beyond Central Florida. He had a principal role in an April webinar on the Lambeth Calls sponsored by the Episcopal Ministry Team in collaboration with the Anglican Communion and is serving on the leadership team for a conference hosted by the Church of the Province of Central Africa, “Leading Safer Churches: Power and Vulnerability in Church Life,” to be held Sept. 6-10 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

“Safe church initiatives are an important part of the culture that Bishop Holcomb wants the diocese to have,” Smith said. “Certainly one of the shared passions that he and I have is for the church to be a safe place for God’s children. … I think the members of the House of Bishops have recognized that this is an area of not only passion but true expertise from Bishop Holcomb. They’re discovering that they really do have a resource in him that can make a difference across the church.”

Lindsey Holcomb, member of the new Diocese of Central Florida Safe Church Commission, among those in attendance at the May 16, 2024, abuse prevention and response training | Photo: Erik Guzman

Safe Church Commission

The appointment of the Safe Church Commission is “probably the biggest next step,” Smith said of diocesan safe church initiatives. Commission members who have accepted their appointment by Holcomb to date are as follows, with more to be announced:

The co-chairs share a sense of responsibility and excitement about serving on the new commission. “As Christians, we know that God has entrusted us as stewards, and we have a responsibility toward keeping young people safe,” Sutton said. “I look forward to being a part of this dynamic team and partnering with other churches as we work toward stewarding well.”

“My life’s work has been helping people heal from sexual and other forms of abuse,” Taffinder said. “I’m thrilled to be a part of proactively creating a strong culture of safeguarding and of response that goes beyond training church leadership to our identity of who we are as a diocese. I’m grateful for Bishop Holcomb’s initiative and for his vision to see us be a diocese known for our commitment to the safety of all who walk through our doors.

“With people leaving the church in record numbers, my hope is that we become known as a place where people truly can feel safe and heal through the power of the gospel and the way we care for one another, especially the vulnerable,” she said.