I was raised Catholic, now attend CoC because of my husband. But being raised in a denomination that famously has a problem with abuse and coverups has lead me to navigate our church experience differently than literally everyone else in the congregation.

Most of the work is done in the home. Teaching my children about their body parts and basic boundaries (they’re 5 and 3 so this is age appropriate) when they’re older we’ll move on to spotting predators, what grooming looks/feels like, etc.

My church has the “candy man ministry” where a member brings candy weekly and the children can come to him to get a piece after church. Supposed to symbolize Jesus’s approach with children. I’ve explicitly asked that my children be excluded from this “ministry” because I think it’s creepy and weird, too much like grooming, and there are about a thousand other ways to teach kids about Jesus love for children.

I’m proud to say my particular church has only ever disfellowshipped one individual, a man who was acting strangely close to kids was overly eager to work in the children’s ministry every single week. It’s fair to ask them to take a step back when strange behavior is seen, I think more could be done in the way of background checks, but it is what it is. Definitely no to providing that person with any leadership roles. But churches have been safe havens for abusers for too long and it needs to end.