How French Evangelicals Seek to Serve Abuse Survivors Well

Author - Umn ministry

March 21, 2022

New efforts come amid the Catholic Church’s groundbeaking investigation.

Florent Varak had been a pastor for nine years in 2001 when a 15-year-old church attendee disclosed that his father had been sexually abusing him.

“I was just stunned,” said Varak, who at the time pastored Église protestante évangélique de Villeurbanne-Cusset (Evangelical Protestant Church of Villeurbanne-Cusset) in Lyon.

Since the attendee was a minor, Varak believed this revelation required immediate legal action. He called the father into his office and explained that the man would either write a letter to the procureur de la République, the district attorney, denouncing himself, or Varak would.

Varak wrote the letter, and the trial took place almost two years after a government investigation revealed that the abuser’s actions were not limited to his son. Varak attended the three-day trial and testified as a key witness. The father was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Two decades later, French evangelical pastors and church leaders like Varak will have additional tools to help them better serve abuse survivors and address abuse in their own congregations. Last summer, the Conseil national des évangéliques de France (National Council of Evangelicals in France, or CNEF) published a booklet outlining three approaches—theological, legal, and practical—to fighting sexual abuse within the church and stating a code of ethics for pastors and elders at member congregations of the CNEF and mailed it to members. In December, the Associations familiales protestantes (Protestant Families Association, or AFP) announced that it was partnering with the CNEF and two other French counseling organizations to create an online service independent of the Church to help accompany ...