Bridge Dialogues

Information for Survivors

Through Awake’s ministry, we have seen firsthand the healing that some survivors can experience when they encounter a compassionate, trauma-sensitive priest. We also know that many survivors want opportunities to help teach and form today’s church leaders. In fact, in one of our recent survivor surveys, when we asked about interest in a variety of possible new opportunities, the most popular option by far was “conversations with small groups of priests who want to better understand the experience of survivors.”

In response to this interest, we have begun piloting a new Awake program called Bridge Dialogues. This program is designed to begin to bridge the gap between abuse survivors and priests through facilitated conversation in a confidential setting.

A few details:

  • Each Bridge Dialogue brings together three abuse survivors and three priests, along with two facilitators - Sara Larson and Esther Harber.

  • These dialogues take place on Zoom and last 90 minutes, followed immediately by a 30 minute debrief session with just the survivors and a facilitator. 

  • The facilitators guide the group through a simple process of honest sharing and respectful listening, giving all participants the opportunity to speak from their hearts about the ways they have been impacted and what they hope for in the Church moving forward. 

  • Participants are given an outline of the questions that will be raised during the dialogue so that they know what to expect, as well as basic information about the priests who will be in attendance.

  • The priests that participate have been vetted by Sara or Esther, and they are offered guidelines for participating in a compassionate, trauma-sensitive way.

Participants in our pilot dialogues have found them to be a powerful moment of human encounter and an opportunity to feel truly heard by priests who are open to listening. The dialogues have also been quite emotional for participants. While we do our best to provide a safe, supportive environment, we also recognize that this kind of conversation may not be a good fit for every survivor. We care about your wellbeing, so we encourage you to carefully discern your participation.

We are rolling out this program at a slow pace throughout the fall of 2024. If you express an interest in participating, we will reach out when we have a space available for you.