In the first of two articles following the Makin Report into abuse in the Church of England, a survivor of church-based abuse responds

When I hear yet another story of senior clergy and church leaders covering up appalling, unthinkable abuse on a horrific scale, I hear God’s heart break. Tears flow down my face and God’s. Together we share in human suffering, we share in the pain of another. How can this be? So much abuse, so much hiding, so much avoidance, silencing and lawlessness – so much darkness, so much beaten, broken and bruised hearts and lives – the damage done by those whom we are expected to trust and confide in and depend upon….

This is bad news for survivors and for everyone in the Church. Can the Church ever recover from the reputational damage? I suspect not. In our fragmented, fragile world, in a society where post-truth is the norm for so many, our voice of reason, our voice of hope is diminished and very often ignored due to stories such as this. Our light becomes dull and our salt loses its flavour. The very institution that clergy have tried to protect is crippled by these happenings…

In the next issue of Reform, Sharon Barr, Safeguarding Lead for the United Reformed Church, considers how the Church should respond

Illustration© Brent Clark

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This is an extract from an article published in the Issue 1 – 2025 edition of Reform

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