7 Things Your Church Must Do When an Allegation Surfaces
Learn the practical first steps your church can take to protect people, respond responsibly, and create a credible path toward truth and accountability.
September 29, 2026 | 1pm ET | Live Webinar
If An Allegation Surfaces, Will Your Church Know What To Do Next?
How to respond when someone first reports abuse?
How to address immediate safety concerns?
Who should be notified?
What to avoid and what not to rush?
What evidence to document and preserve?
What to communicate to the reporting party, staff, families, and congregation?
How to determine if outside help is needed?
Learn how to build a clear and responsible first-response plan.
Here’s a brief look at what we’ll cover:
How to receive a disclosure
What to do from the first 24 hours to first 30 days
How to communicate and care for the reporting party
When and how to address safety concerns
When to avoid conflicts of interest
What records to document and preserve
How to avoid premature confrontation or forced reconciliation
The method for coordinating care and responsible communication
The markers for determining when outside help or an independent investigation is needed
and more...
This webinar will give you a practical framework and a starting point for creating or improving your church’s response plan.
Meet Your Presenters
Mike Sloan
Director of Safeguarding
Mike Sloan is the Director of Safeguarding at GRACE. For the last fifteen years, Mike has trained churches, schools, and other Christian ministries across the United States and abroad in abuse prevention and response best practices. Mike worked with GRACE board member Victor Vieth to develop the GRACE Seminary Curriculum, the first three-credit hour seminary course on child maltreatment, which was piloted at Biblical Seminary in 2017. Mike has served as a local pastor in congregations in Atlanta, Georgia, and Columbus, Ohio.
Emily Petrie
Incoming Director of Institutional Response
Emily Petrie is the incoming Director of Institutional Response at GRACE. A licensed attorney in Virginia and a certified Title IX Investigator, Emily brings both legal expertise and a deeply trauma-informed approach to her work.
Emily earned her Juris Doctorate from Liberty University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia. During her legal studies, she received specialized training on responding to abuse in a trauma-informed manner. Emily dedicated her early legal career to civil litigation and family law.
Emily began her work with GRACE in 2019 as a Lead Investigator, and subsequently served as an Assistant Director of Institutional Response and Deputy Director for Investigations. Emily has years of experience training and supervising investigators and has conducted training for the general public on recognizing abuse dynamics and responding effectively. At the core of Emily’s work is a deep passion for empowering survivors to safely share their experiences and equipping churches with the tools they need to handle abuse appropriately.
Build A Response Plan Your Leaders Can Rely On When The Unexpected Happens
When an allegation surfaces, your church needs to know how to protect people, report appropriately, preserve the integrity of the investigative process, and when to involve outside help.
Get practical, step-by-step instructions for making decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
Leave with a starting point your leadership team can use to create or strengthen its own first-response plan.