Evangelical Council on Abuse Prevention to Hold Inaugural National Conference

The Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (ECAP)—a new organization aimed at helping evangelical organizations and ministries prevent and respond to abuse—will hold its first national conference on June 17, 2021 at Nashville First Baptist Church.

The conference theme is “Prevention and Redemption,” and will equip attendees to effectively prevent abuse in the organizations they serve and be agents of redemption when abuse has occurred. Both prevention and redemption “demonstrate the heart of God in his care for his people,” according to the ECAP website.

“My hope is that people will leave this conference reminded anew that all people, including the vulnerable and weak for whom God cares so deeply, bear the image of God,” says Jeff Dalrymple, executive director of ECAP. “Caring for children in our churches and ministries is a weighty stewardship, one that should motivate us to do all we can to protect and care for these image bearers.”

The conference will feature keynote speakers, such as Crawford Loritts, Valerie Bell, Julius Kim and more. A full slate of breakout sessions addressing a wide variety of practical issues will be of help to anyone interested in preventing abuse. Attendees can hear from lawyers, authors, pastors, professors and child safety professionals.

“The work that ECAP is doing is groundbreaking and extremely important for churches and other ministries,“ says Sally Wagenmaker, an attorney serving as general counsel for ECAP and one of the breakout speakers at the conference. “Ministries will benefit tremendously through this upcoming national conference.”

Those who are unable to attend can register for the livestream option. More details and information on the conference can be found at Ecap.net.

Lora Schrock
Lora Schrock

Lora Schrock is editor of Outreach magazine.