Creating Faith Communities of Safety, Compassion, & Courage
Fundraising Campaign from Nov 2-15
GRACE Summit on Nov 5-6
Building safer faith communities involves more than good intentions. It compels honest reflection, requires hard work, and takes a willingness to hold fast to the truth. This year, GRACE’s Fall Fundraiser is centered on fostering healthy faith communities through safety, compassion, and courage—a reflection of the way of Jesus.
Safety: proactively working to create environments free from harm where individuals can flourish.
Compassion: realizing the widespread impact of trauma and responding to the vulnerable and harmed with care in a way that resists re-traumatization.
Courage: a commitment to seeking the truth, accepting accountability, and protecting the vulnerable despite risks or cost.
When you support GRACE, you help us walk alongside churches, Christian schools, and ministries as they do this necessary work. We hope that you will consider joining us through giving or by attending the GRACE Summit as we work towards creating faith communities of safety, compassion, and courage across the globe!
Every Dollar Counts!
GRACE SUMMIT
GRACE SUMMIT
A Two-Day Live Virtual Event
November 5 - November 6, 2026
Transforming Faith Communities Together
Faith communities should be places of refuge, healing, and truth. Join GRACE for our 2-day virtual live summit focused on cultivating cultures of safety, deep compassion, and institutional courage.
Whether you are a ministry leader, survivor, or someone looking to learn more, this summit offers vital insights from leading authors, researchers, mental health professionals, clergy, and survivors to help you navigate institutional dynamics, cultivate safety, and care well for survivors.
As part of GRACE’s Fall Fundraiser, this event is offered on a Pay What You Can model. Your registration and additional contributions directly support GRACE’s ongoing mission to empower faith communities to recognize, prevent, and respond to abuse.
Schedule:
Thursday, Nov 5th
7:00PM ET: Live in Conversation with Chuck DeGroat
Friday, Nov 6th
12:00PM ET: Live in Conversation with Wade Mullen
2:00PM ET: Keynote Address with Dr. Jennifer Freyd
3:30PM ET: Pastoral Panel
5:00PM ET: Survivor Panel
Summit Speakers
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Jennifer J. Freyd, PhD, is a researcher, author, educator, and speaker. Dr. Freyd is the Founder and President of the Center for Institutional Courage, Professor Emerit of Psychology at the University of Oregon, Affiliate Professor of Psychology, University of Washington, Affiliate Professor of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, University of Washington, and Affiliated Faculty, Women's Leadership Lab, Stanford University. She is also the Co-Founder of the consulting firm Alto Group.
Dr. Freyd is a widely published and renowned scholar known for her theories of betrayal trauma, institutional betrayal, institutional courage, and DARVO. She received her PhD in Psychology from Stanford University. The author or coauthor of over 200 articles and op-eds, Dr. Freyd is also the author of the book Betrayal Trauma: The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse and Blind to Betrayal, co-authored with Pamela J. Birrell.
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Chuck DeGroat, PhD, LPC, is a professor and executive director for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Western Theological Seminary, as well as a licensed therapist and founder of Soul Care Collaborative. He is the author of seven books, including When Narcissism Comes to Church, Healing What’s Within, and Who You’re Becoming: The Slow and Courageous Work of Cultivating Character in a Narcissistic Age.
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Wade Mullen, PhD is the Executive Editor of Institutional Response at GRACE. He has a PhD in Leadership Studies from Capital Seminary & Graduate School. His doctoral research focused on the responses of evangelical organizations to crises and their use of impression management strategies. Prior to joining GRACE, Wade provided consultation services on topics related to institutional responses to abuse; taught graduate courses on Power, Change, and Conflict; and directed a Master of Arts in Ministry Leadership and a Master of Divinity program.
He is the author of Something's Not Right: Decoding the Hidden Tactics of Abuse and Freeing Yourself From Its Power.
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Nicole Braddock Bromley is an international speaker, advocate and survivor of sexual abuse. Nicole has authored 4 books including Hush: Moving to Silence to Healing After Childhood Sexual Abuse, produced two films, and hosts the OneVOICE Podcast. Nicole also serves as the Executive Director of OneVOICE4freedom, a non-profit that stops sexual abuse and exploitation around the world through prevention education and care for those most vulnerable.
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Jim Bradford, PhD, serves as the Lead Pastor of Central Assembly in Springfield, Missouri, after having served for over nine years as General Secretary for the U.S. Assemblies of God. In that role he oversaw the credentialing of ministers, church chartering, the collection of official statistics, and the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.
Bradford holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Minnesota. As a student he led a small campus Bible study that eventually grew into a university church. Upon graduation in 1979, Bradford stepped into full-time ministry with that campus outreach.
Jim is also the author of four books, Lead So Others Can Follow, Preaching: Maybe It is Rocket Science, Second Chronicles Seven Fourteen: A 28-Day Journey in Prayer, and The Pastoral Epistles: Godly Wisdom for Ministry. He also has a weekly podcast entitled The Jim Bradford Podcast.
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Rev. Dr. Geneece Goertzen, PhD, LMSW, MDiv, is a researcher, educator, author, speaker, and advocate for domestic violence awareness. Her research includes resilience and posttraumatic growth in survivors, the lived experiences of institutional betrayal and courage among survivors, and the church’s response to domestic violence. Her policy interests are based on her concern regarding structural inequalities in society that continue to disadvantage survivors. She also serves on local, state, and national boards and committees for organizations dedicated to ending violence and supporting those who have experienced abuse. As a survivor of more than two decades of domestic violence herself, she is passionate about validating survivor experiences and bringing awareness to issues that survivors encounter as they seek to rebuild their lives after abuse.
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Esau McCaulley, PhD, is the founding pastor of All Saints Anglican Church in Naperville, IL. He is also an author and The Jonathan Blanchard Associate Professor of New Testament and Public Theology at Wheaton College. His writing and speaking focus on New Testament Exegesis, African American Biblical Interpretation, and Public Theology. He has authored numerous books including, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope, which won numerous awards including Christianity Today’s Book of the Year. Esau also served as the editor of New Testament in Color: A Multi-Ethnic Commentary on the New Testament.
On the popular level, Esau’s recent memoir, How Far to the Promised Land, was named by Amazon as a top five non-fiction book of 2023. He has also penned works for children, including Josey Johnson’s Hair and the Holy Spirit, Andy Johnson and the March for Justice, and the God’s Colorful Kingdom Storybook Bible. Esau is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, and senior editor for Holy Post Media as well as the host of a new podcast with the Holy Post that debuts this fall. His writings have appeared in places such as The Atlantic, Washington Post, and Christianity Today.
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Carrie Walker Nettles, MDiv, earned a BA in Sociology from Clemson University and an M.Div. from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. Carrie has worked with the children's ministries of several churches and as a child advocate with the Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center in Charleston, SC. She completed her clinical pastoral education residency with the Spiritual Care department at Greenville Memorial Hospital. She has entered the board certification process with the APC. She is a member of the Association of Professional Chaplains and the Pediatric Chaplains Network. In January of 2017, Carrie became the first staff chaplain serving a Child Advocacy Center.
Why Attend?
Expert Insights: Hear from premier voices in institutional courage, psychology, and spiritual abuse recovery including Dr. Jennifer Freyd, Chuck DeGroat, Wade Mullen, Esau McCaulley, and more!
Actionable Guidance: Gain insights, information, and inspiration for fostering healthy, accountable church cultures.
Accessible & Flexible: Stream sessions live from anywhere or watch the replay if you can’t make a session.
Support a Cause: Every registration helps fund GRACE's critical work in preventing abuse and caring for survivors in Christian environments.
Register For the GRACE Summit Today!
The suggested registration cost is $150/person. If you are not in the place to pay $150, pay what you can. If you are in a place of abundance right now, consider giving more to help cover the registration of others!
