From: H. Keuning
Subject: A few brief follow-up thoughts on yesterday’s Zoom Session
Date: February 11, 2021 at 9:28 AM CST
To: Stewart Ruch III, Brenda Dumper, Anne Kessler

Hello! Sorry that I had to leave the meeting at 6:15, before it was completely finished. I was alone with [redacted] ([redacted]) and she had already occupied herself for that entire time and was hungry for dinner. I don’t know what the general consensus was after the ending of the Zoom call yesterday.

My thoughts:

— It was a good meeting for building trust and gaining some traction. They seemed a bit more tense & tentative in the beginning of the conversation but then seemed to warm-up and share more of their thoughts/feelings as the meeting went on.

— Anne did an amazing job sharing her research, the practical steps being taken and being super responsive to their concerns.

— I hope you didn’t mind me jumping into the conversation, Stewart, but that was an opportunity for me to convey that we are taking their “publicize this for the good of the church community” approach seriously. And, again, it was a chance to build credibility and trust. I wanted to communicate that we are “with” them in wanting to do the right thing.

— I think you/Eric engaged their concerns in a balanced, thoughtful, and authentic manner.

— I do think — going forward — that a female from the Bishop’s Council should be on this team. (Just thinking forward to when my time on the Council expires because this will be a longer process.) It is very apparent that the 3 church leaders on the call are males. Both Brenda and Anne are in support-role positions in the church infrastructure Allowing Anne and I to speak brings “balance” to that concentration of “power” residing all with men. These are dynamics that women in all positions—but especially those who have been violated by men — will be sensitive to.

— One training/assessment issue to note: When I was talking to our church’s insurance person a few years back about a different issue, I asked him what he saw as the “cutting edge” litigation issues facing churches/nonprofits today. He said it was “child-on-child” sexual abuse. Children who have experienced this type of abuse will often re-enact it with their peers. And most organizations are not thinking through this “secondary” abuse problem. I brought this up to our own children’s ministry leaders at COTC because we have a lot of younger kids who run around all over the church building (pre-Covid) with little or no adult supervision. Anyway, this is just something to think about as you approach training and proactive planning for safe church environments.

Those are my thoughts. I wanted to communicate them while they were fresh.

Let me know if you want me to do anything further? I will await instructions.

Thanks, Helen

From: Stewart Ruch III
Subject: Re: A few brief follow-up thoughts on yesterday’s Zoom Session
Date: February 11, 2021 at 3:07:57 PM CST
To: "H. Keuning"
Cc: Brenda Dumper, Anne Kessler

Helen:

I am heading out of town--but want to thank you for this great synopsis. I was very happy you jumped in--it was much needed.

+Stewart