In Depth:  Duncan Forbes

Duncan has previously very movingly shared his own experience of being abused (August 2021 en). This is a highly complex issue that has caused a great deal of suffering to many people. en continues to seek to provide a forum for us all to learn as broadly as possible from these sinful and shameful actions. Our foremost thoughts and prayers must be with the survivors and victims.

‘I like the things you write on Twitter but I can’t like them publicly because I’d lose my job.’

Duncan has previously very movingly shared his own experience of being abused (August en). This is a highly complex issue that has caused a great deal of suffering to many people.

I’ve been reading Andrew Graystone’s book Bleeding for Jesus about how John Smyth was able to abuse people for so long. It’s a hard but necessary book to read, and I think it challenges evangelicals to respond to the following points.

I was abused in school in the 1980s and 1990s. Eleven staff/clergy have since been imprisoned, and many more should have been.

So it’s a big case study from which I’ve personally learned the following about abusive cultures and survivor experiences:

In the last year, many people have been contacting me, asking advice about how to respond to injustice.

Some have asked about racism, or classism, others have asked about or even shared their experience of abuse in the church.

We’ve seen too many abuse scandals come to light in the Church, and sadly, statistically speaking, there are many more to come.

It’s tempting to turn away from the Church when well-known leaders are found out to be abusers. This temptation increases as we see other leaders fail to make the Church a safe place: Some leaders have clearly been complicit in abuse, even if they haven’t directly abused anybody themselves. Other leaders have been silent, failing to speak up about what they know, failing to be a voice for the voiceless. Some have spoken up, but have ‘sin-levelled’, thus minimising abuse, contradicting Christ (Matt. 18:6), and broadcasting an ‘all clear’ message to predators. No wonder some of us are tempted to give up on the Church.

I looked nervously from my wheelchair at the two loose planks of wood running up the steep church steps.

Two helpers happily offered to push me up this obstacle-course item. When I explained the danger of falling off, they offered to physically lift me out of the chair and carry me up the stairs. They had big grins on their faces, presumably pleased that they were able to get me to church – but I was sinking inside, and I now just wanted to go home.

As society becomes increasingly polarised, we’re tending to divide people up into two teams: my team, and the enemy team.

This is a problem because, in reality, a lot of our issues are more complex than having simply two teams, and such division can grieve the Holy Spirit.

Our country’s 200m sprinter, Bianca Williams, said she was ‘heartbroken’ to be dragged from her car by police, and away from her baby.

I watched the video and found it hard to watch and hear a mother’s cries for her baby. There were a variety of public responses – can I gently ask how you responded?