July 27, 2026
by Tyler Schwaller, GCSRW Director of Sexual Ethics
In 2024, the General Conference of The United Methodist Church issued an apology “for the times we allowed our desire to protect the Church to outweigh our desire to care for victims and survivors of sexual misconduct.” The statement importantly acknowledged that “an apology is worthless without a commitment to the challenging work which must follow.”
And so, the Church made a series of pledges, including to “develop a trauma-informed response to complaints of sexual misconduct.”
Doing this work takes intentional effort. In my experiences supporting people who have experienced harassment and discrimination, I frequently observe that the biggest obstacle to a thoughtful, intentional, care-full response is that people who receive reports of harm don’t know what to do.
If we are going to make good on our commitments—indeed, if we are going to take our gospel responsibility to care for those in vulnerable circumstances seriously—then we must learn what it takes to respond well to harm. The work isn’t done with a statement but with tangible efforts to mean what we say.
This is the motivation behind Do No Harm, which the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women is hosting November 12–14, 2026, with significant support from all the general agencies of the UMC. We will engage in two days of professional development to learn trauma-informed frameworks and practices for responding to sexual harm, and then we’ll have a third day to provide a public witness to the Church’s role and responsibility to care for victims and survivors of sexual harassment and abuse.
Registration is open for both professional development (Thursday/Friday—generally directed toward people with specific roles in church leadership) and the public witness (Saturday—designed for a general audience). GCSRW is excited that Ashley Judd and Rachael Denhollander will headline the event, alongside an excellent slate of experienced advocates, mental health practitioners, scholars, and church leaders.
Read more here.
This content was originally published by The Commission on the Status and Role of Women; republished with permission by ResourceUMC on July 28, 2026. To learn more about GCSRW visit The Status and Role of Women.