Ep. 238: Handling Allegations In A Ministry:  A Conversation With Theresa Lynn Sidebotham

On today’s MinistryWatch EXTRA episode, we’re featuring a recent interview I had with Theresa Lynn Sidebotham.  She’s an attorney and the author of a new book Handling Allegations In A Ministry:  Responses and Investigations. It’s not clear to me that we are seeing more incidents of sexual abuse in the church than in years past.  But I think it is fair to say that more stories are seeing the light of day.  The #MeToo Movement, which spawned the #ChurchToo movement, means that more survivors are telling their stories, and the way we handle these stories is vital for the health and healing of the survivors and for the church of Jesus Christ. Theresa Lynn Sidebotham is an attorney who focuses on misconduct response, ministry policy, and employment law.  She has helped Christian ministries, churches, and religious organizations of all kinds to protect their members and response to allegations of child abuse, harassment, abuse of power, and other misconduct. I had this conversation with her last week via zoom. We’d like to put a copy of Theresa’s book in your hands.  It’s our thank you gift to you for a gift of any size to MinistryWatch. Just hit the donate button at the top of the page. The producers for today’s program are Rich Roszel and Jeff McIntosh.   We get database, technical, and editorial support from Stephen DuBarry, Christina Darnell, Emily Kern, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Until next time, may God bless you.