July Digest (2025): First Look: New Research and Reform Efforts Addressing Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse
New and ongoing research expose institutional failures in education, accountability, and survivor care, revealing the urgent need for reform in addressing clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse of adults.
In This Edition:
Letter from the Editor: Updates & Recommended New Resources
Discover how ClergySexualMisconduct.com is making an impact with over 20,000 visitors, and explore new resources that integrate clergy abuse research.
Baylor University Seeks Research Participants for New Study on Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse
Doctoral student Lucy Huh is conducting a study to better understand the impact of adult clergy sexual abuse to improve trauma-informed care and institutional response.
Improving Seminary Curricula: A Path Toward Preventing Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse
An ethicist calls for greater accountability in theological education through his scholarship, advocacy, and curriculum development.
100% of Survivors Report Institutional Betrayal in New Clergy Abuse Study
A researcher finds significant relationships between DARVO experiences, institutional betrayal, and psychological outcomes among 115 survivors of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse in a new study.
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Content Warning: Contains references to sexual abuse and spiritual abuse.
Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
Here’s a fun fact: Over 20,000 visitors from around the world have accessed ClergySexualMisconduct.com in the past 12 months to explore our resources. Our website’s high performance score of 94, as reported by our web host, indicates that we’re effectively connecting with visitors and providing them with meaningful information.
The public is discovering the importance and value of research-backed information on clergy sexual misconduct through our website and advocacy groups, like Restored Voices Collective and SNAP, whose keynote speakers will address adult clergy sexual abuse at their upcoming conference.
Here are a couple of recent articles that integrate research on adult clergy sexual abuse to inform the public.
Victoria Is Looking into Religious Cults — Here’s What It Should Examine
Why Words Matter: A Sociological Look at Language Surrounding Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse
As always, be sure to visit our research page, which is regularly updated with current studies, articles, videos, and podcast episodes. While not exhaustive, this section highlights key findings and emerging perspectives, including the experiences of those who witness abuse, as explored in a new podcast with researcher Jaime Simpson.
Thank you for contributing to the research; we are grateful to the many survivors who responded to a call for research participants in the January 2025 edition. In this quarter’s issue, we are pleased to feature an interview with the researcher, Elisabeth Arnold Ingram, in which she discusses her findings and their implications.
I hope you find this edition insightful and encouraging as we continue working together toward awareness, accountability, and healing.
Gratefully,
T. P. Zamora
Editor, CSM Research Insights
Baylor University Seeks Research Participants for New Study on Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse
Doctoral student Lucy Huh is conducting a study to better understand the impact of adult clergy sexual abuse to improve trauma-informed care and institutional response.
A new study, led by Baylor University doctoral student Lucy Huh, aims to give voice to an often-overlooked survivor population and develop more effective support strategies. The study focuses on understanding how adult clergy sexual abuse impacts survivors’ spirituality, healing processes, and relationships with religious institutions.
Participation Details:
Anonymous online survey (approximately 30-45 minutes)
For adults (18+) who experienced clergy sexual abuse during adulthood
Completely voluntary and confidential
Participants can skip questions or withdraw at any time
Support resources are provided throughout the process
This research seeks to document the impact of clergy sexual abuse on adult survivors, identify helpful recovery pathways and resources, develop recommendations for trauma-informed spiritual care, and improve institutional responses and prevention efforts.
Survivors can access the survey until 7/31/25 at: https://baylor.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cTRzA9CSC8gMTUq
Please share information about this study with your networks and forward it to others who might be interested in participating or sharing.
For questions or concerns about this research, please contact Lucy Huh at lucy_huh2@baylor.edu.
Improving Seminary Curricula: A Path Toward Preventing Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse
An ethicist calls for greater accountability in theological education through his scholarship, advocacy, and curriculum development.
When Rev. Dr. Darryl Stephens pursued his Master of Divinity twenty-five years ago, he took various courses, including Christian ethics, and completed a full-time internship on staff at a local church. However, he says he “graduated with no exposure to the ethics of the practice of ministry.”
He elaborates, “None of my coursework and no advisor, supervisor, or mentor had ever talked to me about guidelines for confidentiality, healthy boundaries, fiduciary duty, or how to recognize, name, and address misconduct and abuses of power by persons in ministerial leadership.” He describes his experience, which isn’t unique, as “a travesty of education and church leadership,” stating, “The Church and academy can do better.”
Twenty-five years later, not much has changed. Seminaries may cover ethical topics such as moral theology (right and wrong according to religious teachings), social justice (fairness and equity in society), or bioethics (medical ethics), but many fail to teach future clergy the practical, relationship-focused ethics of ministry, like setting healthy boundaries, recognizing power imbalances, and preventing abuse of power.
Dr. Stephens, being a pragmatic and justice-minded person, has since made significant contributions to the scholarship on this issue and other ministry-related topics, with a lengthy list of publications on his blog, Ethics Considered. He earned a Ph.D. in Christian ethics from Emory University, teaches at Lancaster Theological Seminary, and serves as a senior consultant with Fosgail, which provides executive coaching, consulting, and project management services to individuals and organizations.
“Part of my motivation is to make up for my own ignorance and complicity by contributing to better education and practices for future church leaders,” Dr. Stephens shares. “I am also motivated by the conviction that as a Christian, I am called to join in solidarity with the poor, marginalized, and oppressed—anyone who is vulnerable to or a victim of abuse of power.”
Rev. Dr. Darryl Stephens is a nationally recognized speaker who teaches at Lancaster Theological Seminary, serves as a senior consultant with Fosgail, and is the author and editor of over fifty articles, chapters, and books.
But why don’t seminaries expose religious leaders in training to the ethics of ministry practice? Why do many clergy end up seeking guidance elsewhere on how to respond to abuses of power, often only after a crisis has occurred? Dr. Stephens says, “We can make many excuses for this circumstance. My seminary education occurred prior to the Boston Globe story about child sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church. The topic of professional ethics was unhelpfully conflated with issues of LGBTQ inclusion within a politically polarized church and society. On a practical level, most clergy were simply unaware and unequipped to talk about the ethics of ministry and differentials of power.”
The #MeToo and subsequent #ChurchToo movements have brought increased attention to the lack of education among religious leaders, which can be seen in how many clergy respond poorly to allegations of abuse. In some cases, those who are outspoken against movements to educate the public on abuses of power have eventually faced allegations themselves. Others may find the topic uncomfortable if they married someone under their spiritual care or knew someone who did, and the practice was normalized.
“Perhaps the topic was too personal,” Dr. Stephens shares. “One of my supervisors in seminary had married a parishioner—were appropriate safeguards and accountability put in place? Yet, as I went on to study Christian ethics in a Ph.D. program, I became more aware of the social structures of power around me, including patriarchy, systems of hierarchy in the church, and issues of sexuality, gender, and race. My dissertation advisor, Elizabeth Bounds, at Emory University, was the first to teach me about professional ethics for ministry and the work of the FaithTrust Institute.”
Founded in 1977 by Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, author of Is Nothing Sacred: When Sex Invades the Pastoral Relationship, a seminal text in adult clergy sexual abuse research, FaithTrust Institute later published Responding to Spiritual Leader Misconduct: A Handbook. Dr. Stephens is a contributing author.
After teaching as a visiting assistant professor at Candler School of Theology, Dr. Stephens took a leadership position in The United Methodist Church (UMC). He served on staff as the Assistant General Secretary for Sexual Ethics and Advocacy at the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women in The United Methodist Church. “It was a newly created position... My portfolio was titled ‘advocacy and sexual ethics,’ which was code language for addressing the problem of clergy sexual misconduct within the denomination.”
One of his primary tasks was developing curricular guidelines for teaching professional sexual ethics in seminaries and licensing programs. “Under my leadership, an ecumenical team of experts developed a list of goals, competencies, and content areas on the topic of professional sexual ethics for ministry.” The report can be read on the UMC website.
When asked about the impact, Dr. Stephens offered a candid assessment of current efforts. “Since 2012, these requirements pertain to the education of all candidates for ordination or licensing as clergy in the UMC. For victim-survivors, this work is life-giving and essential. For the rest of the church and academy, it is hard to tell what impact this work has had or if this requirement has been enforced.”
A lingering question is how seminaries and religious institutions are being held accountable for integrating this knowledge into their clergy formation programs. Dr. Stephens explains, “It is up to each seminary to determine how these goals, competencies, and content areas are taught within the degree program. Many Master of Divinity programs require only one course in ethics, and it is usually a survey course with little to no attention to professional ethics for ministry. Rarely is a stand-alone course in ministerial ethics required. How is ethics for ministry being taught, and who is holding seminaries accountable to this expectation? It would take an institution of the scale, scope, and influence as the Association for Theological Schools (ATS) to conduct in-depth research on this question in seminary education.”
His book, Professional Sexual Ethics: A Holistic Ministry Approach, is designed as a teaching resource and a required textbook in the United Methodist Course of Study Curriculum and at some seminaries. Although this is a step in the right direction, Dr. Stephens notes that, “It is up to the committees who interview these candidates for ministry to hold them accountable to this knowledge.”
“In my experience on the Board of Ordained Ministry,” he says, “I’ve never witnessed an interview committee question a clergy candidate about issues of professional ethics. I can speculate about the reasons. Clergy are not trained how to hold each other accountable as colleagues. Clergy from older generations (including me) did not have this awareness and training at all in seminary. People in general are uncomfortable talking about issues of sex and power. Many church leaders are simply unaware of the prevalence of the problem of ministerial misconduct. It is one of the great shocks to persons asked to serve at a superintendency level over clergy to learn how many complaints of misconduct actually come across the desk of those in charge.”
Despite describing the reception of his work as quiet at best, Dr. Stephens continues to press forward, committed to educating others. “I am actively working to make the issues of trauma and abuse more central to the study of Christian ethics, both in seminaries and undergraduate contexts. His forthcoming book, Trauma-Informed Christian Ethics: Bearing Witness through Love, Justice, and Solidarity in Community, is scheduled for publication by T&T Clark in fall 2025. His chapter, “A Protestant Perspective on Clericalism and Clergy Sexual Abuse,” will appear in the forthcoming edited volume Catholic Priests and the Matter of Sex: New Approaches to Clericalism (Cambridge University Press), where he serves as the sole Protestant contributor.
“In my chapter, I discuss the importance of empowering the laity through education and inclusion in structures of accountability for clergy. I also invoke the theories of institutional betrayal and institutional courage, developed by Dr. Jennifer Freyd and colleagues, and suggest courageous practices for addressing clergy sexual abuse at congregational, judicatory, denominational, ecumenical, and societal levels.”
As theological schools, churches, and denominational leaders continue to reckon with the ethical failures surrounding clergy sexual abuse, Dr. Darryl Stephens has emerged as a leading voice in shaping a more accountable future for ministry. Through his work in curriculum development, scholarship, and seminary teaching, he is helping transform how future faith leaders are formed, centering ethics, power, and trauma-informed practice in theological education.
For those who, like he once did, find themselves unprepared to address the ethical demands of ministry, his workshops and writing offer both a challenge and a resource.
A nationally recognized speaker and workshop leader with expertise in healthy boundaries for ministry, social ethics, and church polity, Dr. Stephens is available for speaking, consulting, research, writing, and editorial work, and can be reached at dwstephens@fosgail.org.
100% of Survivors Report Institutional Betrayal in New Clergy Abuse Study
A researcher finds significant relationships between DARVO experiences, institutional betrayal, and psychological outcomes among 115 survivors of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse in a new study.
In our January 2025 edition of CSM Research Insights, we highlighted a call for research participants for Elisabeth Arnold Ingram’s study exploring the experiences of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse survivors and DARVO, a tactic used by perpetrators to deny allegations, attack the victim, and reverse the narrative of who is the victim and who is the offender. As a 2024 recipient of the Center for Institutional Courage’s Research Grant, Ingram investigated the impact of Institutional Betrayal and DARVO on 115 clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse survivors. Thirty-eight participants were age 16 or older when the abuse began. In this article, she shares her findings with us.
Ingram, who holds a Master of Science in Counseling from Oklahoma State University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology there, shared, “Every single participant experienced some form of institutional betrayal, highlighting the systemic nature of inadequate institutional responses to clergy abuse… Over half of the participants met criteria suggesting probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is substantially higher than general population rates and demonstrates the profound psychological toll of clergy abuse.”
Despite these two findings, she notes that, “Institutional betrayal did not show statistically significant direct correlations with PTSD symptoms or dissociation, contrary to our hypothesis. This suggests that the relationship between institutional betrayal and psychological outcomes may be more complex than anticipated, potentially mediated through other factors like social support or being victim-blamed.”
Dissociation, defined as a disconnection from one’s sense of self (depersonalization) or surroundings (derealization), is often a response to trauma and can interfere with memory, identity, emotion, perception, and behavior. Ingram explains, “Dissociation is linked to experiences of deliberately inflicted, chronic interpersonal violence, and is a typical nervous system response to sexual abuse. In my view, it is the sexual abuse and poor responses of society that are pathological, and the survivor is having what can be compared to an immune system response after a severe physical and psychological injury.”
Elisabeth Arnold Ingram, M.S. in Counseling, is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at Oklahoma State University and a certified Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Facilitator.
Although institutional betrayal did not demonstrate statistically significant direct relationships with PTSD or dissociation symptoms, Ingram did find that institutional betrayal showed a “significant negative correlation with psychological safety.” Additionally, she discovered that DARVO tactics significantly correlated with increased PTSD symptoms, higher dissociative experiences, and decreased psychological safety.
One of the most impactful findings to Ingram was, “the consistent negative relationship between social safety and all trauma variables: This finding positions psychological safety as a critical mediating factor between institutional responses and survivor wellbeing, offering a potential pathway for healing interventions.”
Ingram explains how religious institutions should respond to these findings. “In a nutshell, this means that if religious institutions were responding adequately to clergy sex abuse in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered way, they could significantly reduce the lifelong struggles faced by survivors of clergy sex abuse…The universality of institutional betrayal (100% prevalence) was also striking, though perhaps not entirely surprising given the documented patterns of institutional failure in responding to clergy abuse.”
When asked how all stakeholders can practically apply her findings, Ingram provides helpful insights. For survivors, the research “emphasizes the importance of seeking support from trauma-informed professionals. The data validates their experiences and the severity of the psychological impact. Understanding DARVO can help survivors recognize these tactics aren't their fault.”
She encourages advocates and policymakers to “develop educational resources about DARVO tactics and their harmful effects, advocate for legislation requiring institutional accountability and survivor support,” and “create specialized support services addressing the intersection of spiritual and sexual trauma.”
For religious institutions, Ingram further suggests leaders “implement transparent reporting procedures and trauma-informed, survivor-centered response protocols, train leadership to recognize and avoid DARVO tactics,” and “create accountability structures that prioritize survivor wellbeing over institutional reputation.”
For mental health clinicians, she recommends they “develop specific interventions addressing DARVO’s cognitive and emotional effects, prioritize restoring psychological safety as foundational to trauma treatment,” and “use trauma-informed approaches that acknowledge the unique betrayal dynamics in clergy abuse.”
Her complete thesis will be available through ProQuest, and she is in the process of submitting manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals in trauma psychology and religious studies. She hopes to present her findings at professional conferences, such as the SNAP conference at the end of July. “SNAP was such an important part of this research’s success,” shares Ingram.
Her plans also include developing accessible summaries for survivor advocacy organizations, creating educational materials for religious institutions, and collaborating with survivor networks to ensure the research reaches those who need it most.
Since earning her M.S., Ingram is working toward specializing in trauma-informed therapy for survivors of interpersonal violence, especially survivors with experiences of dissociation. “This population is currently underserved and deserving of dignity and advocacy.” For this group of survivors, Ingram is especially concerned about re-victimization. She also plans to continue research on dissociation, institutional betrayal, and evidence-based interventions, advocate for systemic changes in how institutions respond to abuse disclosures, and support legislation aimed at protecting society from clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse.
She is particularly interested in researching how shame functions in damaging the mental health of survivors. “Currently, religious institutions treat survivors like a sacrificial lamb, holding the shame of the institution and the perpetrator—a literal scapegoat,” she says. “The institution and perpetrator can often carry on, even celebrate themselves, while a scapegoat carries their ‘sin.’ It strikes me that this is in direct opposition with the Christian religions in particular, which teach that Jesus Christ was the last scapegoat.”
She suggests that future research directions should include “Longitudinal studies examining how DARVO and institutional betrayal affect recovery trajectories over time. Mediating factors between institutional betrayal and psychological outcomes (e.g., victim-blaming, shame, identity disruption).” She would also like to see research on protective factors that buffer against DARVO's harmful effects, intervention development specifically targeting DARVO-related cognitive distortions, cross-cultural studies examining these dynamics in different religious contexts, and qualitative research capturing survivor narratives to complement quantitative findings, effectiveness studies of institutional reforms and trauma-informed response protocols, and career impact studies for those in religious professions who experience clergy abuse.
“I hope someone will pick up the career impact thread. I have spoken with many survivors who were educationally and experientially prepared for and pursuing a ministry career path, only to have it be pulled out from under them after sexual abuse by an authority figure. Again, we see victims, many times women, pay the price for the negligence of the institution and the actions of the perpetrator. How many women church leaders have we lost due to this dynamic, even in churches that support women in leadership?”
Ingram stresses that “healing cannot occur in isolation. It requires both individual therapeutic support and systemic institutional change. The high prevalence of clinical-level PTSD symptoms among participants demands urgent attention from mental health professionals, religious leaders, and policymakers. These aren’t just statistics; they represent profound human suffering that could be mitigated through proper institutional responses.”
She hopes that her research honors the 115 survivors who courageously shared their experiences. “Their willingness to participate despite the painful nature of the topic reflects remarkable strength and a commitment to preventing future harm. This thesis is dedicated to them and all survivors of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse.”
Ingram’s complete thesis will be available through the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database, with portions potentially published in peer-reviewed journals on psychological trauma and religious studies, and summarized versions shared on survivor advocacy websites.
Ingram welcomes contact from researchers, clinicians, advocates, survivors, and church leaders interested in this work. She can be reached on her About page on her Substack, Now that We Know, where she will post more about her findings and future research.
T. P. Zamora, editor of CSM Research Insights and sociology student, explores power dynamics and abuse within religious institutions and its multi-faceted impact on survivors.