The Officers of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL) stand in agreement with the goal of the SBC Presidential Sexual Abuse Study to equip churches and ministries in our associations to engage the issue of sexual abuse, especially in a church setting, with compassion and care. Our desire is for the churches in our respective associations to be safe havens for survivors and safe from abuse. We also call on our associational leaders and ministries to be models of compassionate care. To this end, we call on Associational Mission Strategists collectively to commit to the following statement of principles:

Our associations will share about abuse

We will educate churches and ministries in our associations to understand abuse by:

• Raising awareness: We will raise awareness about the issue of abuse through association outlets and events, including a commitment to address abuse at our 2019 annual meetings.
• Sharing resources: We will share resources about the issue of abuse to the churches and ministries we serve.
• Partnering with the study group: We will partner with the SBC Presidential Sexual Abuse Study to support its efforts to address abuse and resource churches.

Our associations will care for abuse survivors 

We will equip churches and ministries in our associations to care well for abuse survivors by:

• Encouraging resource development: We encourage the effort of the SBC Presidential Sexual Abuse Study to develop a resource that will help equip churches to care well for the abused and promote strategies to prevent abuse.
• Providing staff training:We will provide training to our association staff and leadership on how to care for survivors of abuse.
• Promoting church training: We will promote training on how to care for survivors of abuse to the churches and ministries we serve.

Our associations will prepare for abuse prevention 

We will support churches and ministries in our associations to prepare to prevent abuse by:

• Enhancing prevention practices: We will encourage churches and ministries to enhance their abuse prevention policies and practices.
• Providing staff training: We will provide training to our association staff and leadership on abuse prevention.
• Promoting church training: We will promote training on abuse prevention to the churches and ministries we serve.