With a new film and a 'safe environments' program, churches strive to stem 'human problem' of childhood sexual abuse

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, September 25, 2004

BY RICHARD C. DUJARDIN
Journal Religion Writer

Just when many churchgoers thought they had heard enough stories about childhood sexual abuse, some of the nation's Catholic dioceses and a prominent black preacher have embarked on new efforts to get their flocks to be more vigilant in helping to stamp it out.

Consider the campaign now under way here in the Diocese of Providence, which has decided that the abuse of children is so horrific and so damaging to their spiritual well being that it has enlisted trainers to bring its "safe environment" program into all of its parishes.

And consider the effort of Bishop T.D. Jakes, the well-known pentecostal preacher and writer from Dallas, Texas, who has initiated a drive to put a face on the problems associated with childhood sexual abuse through a feature-length film due to open Friday in more than 400 theaters.

Though the film hasn't found a venue yet in either Rhode Island or Massachusetts, Woman, Thou Art Loosed has already gotten accolades, including a first-place win at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Some say the film gets its success from the powerful performances of its actors, most especially Kimberly Elise, who costars with Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep in the recently-released remake of The Manchurian Candidate.

It's a film that grabs the audience's attention early: Elise's character, Michelle Jordan, walks slowly into one of Bishop Jakes' mega revival services, and after a moment of reflection at the altar, pulls a pistol from her purse and proceeds to fire several shots at the camera and, presumably, at someone at the altar.

The audience soon gets to learn the rest of the story -- how this young woman had been raped and abused at the age of 9 by her mother's boyfriend, and how her mother's refusal to acknowledge it sets her off on a life of tribulation.

Bishop Jakes, who wrote the book on which the movie is based, said he never intended to be a major actor in the film and that he only relented when the filmmakers at Magnolia Films insisted he play the preacher.

Though the film is fictional, Bisop Jakes says it is a composite of many of the real experiences of people he has counseled over the years.

AT A SCREENING for a group of reporters and clergy in Washington, D.C., two weeks ago, Bishop Jakes said he felt the film had to be made because far too few clergy are willing to talk about such topics with their congregations.

Lillian Turnipseed said she and her husband, the pastor of Providence's Beacon Avenue Church of God, have been looking forward to seeing the film ever since they heard about it at a church conference in Texas in August.

"It sounds interesting," she said. "From what I understand, it's not only about sexual abuse. It's about many issues that women face in particular moments."

Bishop Robert Farrow, who tomorrow celebrates his 20th anniversary as pastor of the Holy Cross of Church of God in Christ United, on Broad Street, Providence, said he knows Bishop Jakes to be a "great" charismatic preacher an a "very anointed" clergyman.

For Bishop Jakes to make such a film, Bishop Farrow said, can only mean he sees a significant problem that isn't being addressed.

"A lot of things go down, and we don't know what's going on in people's homes," he said. "For him to take it to this level suggests to me that he sees this as a very big problem. Why is he doing it? Sometimes you have to expose the acts of the devil to all people if you want them curtailed."

The Rev. Virgil Wood, pastor of the Pond Street Baptist Church, said he really doesn't know how much childhood sexual abuse taking place in the black community.

"Generally it is not part of the public discussion, though it is public concern," he said. "I didn't know about this film, but Bishop Jakes' work is generally regarded as meaningful. I suspect it will get some traction. "

MEANWHILE, ON THE CATHOLIC FRONT, more than 150 volunteer trainers from parishes across the state have received instruction in three-hour workshops led by the Diocese of Providence's Human Formation and Outreach coordinator, psychologist Michael Hansen, and should be taking the information back to the people in their parishes any day.

Hansen, who provided similar kinds of workshops for Catholic school leaders last spring, says the trainings are an outgrowth of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People that the nation's bishops approved at a special meeting in Dallas in June 2002. As a follow-up to that, the diocese pledged to create a "safe environment" program that would be implemented this year in all of its schools and parishes.

"This is a problem that had been hidden for a long time," Hansen told a group of trainers at a meeting last week at the Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul. "It's something we didn't want to address in our church and our culture."

Not anymore, he says. Having learned so much from the crisis, the Catholic Church now believes it can be model for others, fighting for the rights of children.

Hansen continued: "Is it an exclusive to the Catholic Church? Absolutely not. I've talked to people in the Lutheran Church, the Episcopal Church and the Jewish community, and they too have had their problems. It's a problem in families, in school, in scouts. It is basically a human problem."