D031 Addressing the Ongoing Harm of Coercive and Abusive Christian Ministries
Resolved, the House of ________________ concurring,
That the 81st General Convention, recognizing that our baptismal promise to “seek and serve Christ in all persons” goes hand in hand with our charge to “respect the dignity of every human being,” lament the historic and ongoing prevalence of coercion and abuse within Christian social ministries, with particular acknowledgement of how participation in religious services has been a prerequisite for the receipt of social support, how evangelizing publications have been packaged with material support, and how support has been denied to individuals whose relationships do not conform to Church-dictated structures; and be it further
Resolved, That the 81st General Convention repent for The Episcopal Church’s own past complicity in coercive and abusive ministries such as, but not limited to, Indigenous boarding schools, homes for unwed mothers, and crisis pregnancy centers (also known as pregnancy resource centers); and be it further
Resolved, That the 81st General Convention direct the Office of Government Relations to work to defeat funding initiatives and governmental support for these, and other, coercive and abusive Christian ministries.
Explanation
Our Church, like many manifestations of Christian faith, has regretfully been complicit in coercive and abusive ministries, such as Indigenous boarding schools, homes for unwed mothers, and crisis pregnancy centers. While we have begun the work of reckoning with some of these harms, we need to recognize that there are distinct harms caused by the participation of the Church, as opposed to a secular entity. Rather than respecting the dignity of every human being, the moral authority of the Church has been used to coerce, abuse, and stigmatize people.
At the 80th General Convention, we resolved to acknowledge the intergenerational trauma caused by the “operation of Indigenous boarding schools, and other systems of white supremacy that have oppressed Indigenous peoples” and identified steps towards reconciliation (2022-A127). We also recognized the pain of forced adoptions and resolved to investigate the Church’s role further (2022-D074). However, the Church has not lamented its past support for crisis pregnancy centers (1994-D105) in the face of more recent evidence of harm, including that they provide incorrect information and pressure women to keep unplanned pregnancies. Nor has the General Convention directed OGR to speak about the harms of abusive Christian ministries and work against the normalization of these organizations. The use of charity as a coercive tool, restricting access to necessary care and support for those in need, violates the most fundamental tenets of our shared baptismal promises and Christian faith.
As a Church, we must commit to continuing the work of reconciliation and to holding ourselves accountable for that which has been done in our name.