Victor Vieth is the Director of the Center for Faith & Child Protection at Zero Abuse Project. He is a recipient of the Victims Rights Legend Award from the United States Department of Justice for the national impact of his work to improve the lives of maltreated children. He is the author of On this Rock: A Call to Center the Christian Response to Child Abuse on the Life and Words of Jesus and teaches a class on child abuse at his alma mater, Wartburg Theological Seminary.
Providing Pastoral Care to Survivors of Child Abuse
April/May 2024: Protecting Children: What Is the Role of the ELCA? (Volume 24 Issue 2)
“Why did God let me suffer the agonies of [child abuse]? Why did God not intervene when I cried out to him night after night for relief? I have imagined at times my guardian angel pulling on God’s sleeve and saying ‘Don’t you hear little Wesley? Don’t you see his pitiful tears? Can’t you do […]
The Least of These: The Urgent Need for ELCA Seminaries to Prepare Called Workers to Minister to Survivors of Abuse and Develop Trauma-Informed Congregations
December 2023/January 2024: Addressing the Sin of Child Abuse (Volume 23 Issue 6)
Introduction: ELCA assembly resolution on child abuse [1] At the 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly held in Columbus, Ohio, the delegates approved the Memorials Committee’s recommendation that “the Church Council consider authorizing development of a social message on child abuse and protection.”[1] [2] In recommending this action, the ELCA Memorials Committee acknowledged “there has been no […]