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In February of this year, at the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer, fasting, and self-denial leading up to Easter, the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies of The Episcopal Church called the church to a Day of Prayer. It was “...devoted to meditating on the ways in which we in the church have failed to stand with women and other victims of abuse and harassment and to consider, as part of our Lenten disciplines, how we can redouble our work to be communities of safety that stand against the spiritual and physical violence of sexual exploitation and abuse.” In March, the President of the House of Deputies appointed a 47-member special committee to “draft legislation on sexual harassment and exploitation for this summer’s General Convention (business session of the church that can set churchwide policies and guidelines).”

In this first episode of Coffee Hour at The Commons, Alli and Karin talk with Canon Robin Hammeal-Urban about that call to prayer, the special committee, the “#metoo” movement, and how sexual harassment, exploitation, and assault are present in the church. We talk about her work with the victims and perpetrators, and about how she’s helping church communities become safer physically, emotionally, and spirituall----more----

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Robin is the Canon for Mission Integrity & Training for the Episcopal Church in Connecticut (ECCT). She oversees the clergy disciplinary process for ECCT, known as “Title IV,” shorthand for the section of the canons (church laws) of The Episcopal Church that address clergy professional standards, accountability, and church discipline (PDF here, scroll down on left to “Title IV”). She is a recognized leader across The Episcopal Church in explaining the Title IV process and author of the book, Wholeness After Betrayal: Restoring Trust in the Wake of Misconduct (Morehouse, 2015, also on Amazon).

Robin also oversees “Safe Church” policies and training in ECCT for ordained persons as well as parish staff and lay leaders. Beyond Connecticut, she is chair of the Task Force to Update Sexual Misconduct Policies, established in 2015 by the General Convention of The Episcopal Church to develop new model policies by 2018 for the whole Episcopal Church. That Task Force recently released its proposed new comprehensive model policies for the protection of children and youth, and for the protection of vulnerable adults.

Robin is also an appointed member of the Anglican Communion’s Safe Church Commission, which has a global membership and reach.