In Part 1 of this article, I talked about the sexual assault allegations that many branches of the church – Protestant and Catholic alike – are facing today. I spoke of the first step the church must take in order to bring healing: confession.

However, with the shortcomings of church leadership coming to light, many people are asking ‘How can we prevent this in the future?’ Confession alone is not enough to prevent the church from falling back into its old patterns. Once the allegations of these sexual scandals have been acknowledged, what should the next step be for people in the church?

I believe the answer is simple: build up the family.

Families are the core of the church, and if your have strong families, you will have a strong church with members who will keep their leaders accountable for their actions.

Psalm 127:3-4 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.”

Children are the future of the church, and a healthy family unit is a small example of what a healthy church should look like.

If children are taught by their parents how they should be treated as people and as members of a church, they are more likely to hold their church accountable to the same standards.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Parents are the most important role models in the lives of their children, and children who are taught from a young age how they should be treated by leaders in the church become adults who ensure that those standards are enforced.

If churches truly want to heal from past mistakes, it is up to families to teach their children how the leaders of a church should act, in order to maintain accountability between a church and its people.

The only way that the church can move beyond these sexual abuse scandals and hold its leaders accountable is if the church builds itself up from the inside out.