Dove’s Nest led a child protection plan training and introduced the Circle of Grace curriculum to a church in the Midwest in 2014. Two years later, the new pastors discovered that the previous pastor was sexually abusing his niece; he had been doing so for six years, beginning when she was five years old.

Two members of the Dove’s Nest Speaker’s Bureau attended the “Child-on-Child Abuse: Recognizing, Reporting, Preventing” conference, sponsored by the law office Gibbel Kraybill & Hess, on October 5, 2017, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Jan Slabaugh shares her experiences here.

By Anna Groff

Is there a connection between someone having a pornography addiction and committing contact sexual abuse? When should we be concerned, and what should we do?

What is Circle of Grace? See our two-minute Circle of Grace Overview Video.

Be flexible: The time frame may vary depending on size of class, age of children, amount of discussion, etc. See our two-minute Circle of Grace Multiage Classroom Video here.

By Anna Groff

It is likely that your church community is blessed with participation from autistic children and adults. These individuals offer wonderful gifts of intelligence, talents, humor, and help. We are grateful that many churches are working at creative ways to welcome and include these individuals.

By Glen Guyton, COO of Mennonite Church USA and Dove's Nest Speaker's Bureau Member

Maybe nothing better illustrates the need for clear boundary lines than the hymn by Thomas H. Troeger,

“God marked a line and told the sea, its surging tides and waves were free to travel up the sloping strand, but not to overtake the land.”

Even in nature, we see that by design God created natural barriers to protect various aspects of His creation. They say good fences make good neighbors and I say healthy boundaries make healthy ministries.

“Even though we are a Christian school and environment, abuse happens.” This was a comment from one of the staff at Freeman Academy where Dove’s Nest speaker Brenda L. Yoder, LMHC, did a staff training on abuse, bullying, grooming, relationships, social media, and boundaries. 

As a new school year approaches, Dove's Nest is providing three new downloadable coloring pages for use in your classrooms. Please print these and share widely with the children in your congregation, school, or home. 

By Jeanette Harder, Dove's Nest Cofounder and Board President

Is it possible?

That’s a big question: is it possible to bring an individual with sex offense history into our church? After processing our emotional reaction to the question, it also spawns a lot more questions.