Classis Hamilton Safe Church Team

Report to Classis

January, 2009

Dear Classis Delegates,
 

1. Here is a brief update of our recent activities. We did receive a call concerning an employee in one of the classis churches refusing to obtain a police check stating that it was against human rights and his right to privacy. We offered some suggestions to resolve the situation. We did not hear anything further so we assume the situation did get resolved.
2. More and more people are starting to understand the need for a safe church policy and thus the need to go through the process, including police checks, to ensure that a safe environment for fellowship and education.
3. We continue to receive emails and phone calls from churches in other denominations for assistance in setting up safe church policies.
4. Abuse Awareness Sunday this past year was September 28^th. We thank all churches who did something relating to abuse awareness on or around this date.
5. This year, in Hope CRC, Brantford, a large number of police checks needed to be done. Rather than having a lot of people showing up at the police station, which is only multiplied by the many other churches and organizations also requesting checks, a police representative came to the church after a morning service. All we had to do was stop by the secretary’s office to see the representative and sign a form requesting the check. We had the results back in two days with each check in its own envelope for privacy reasons. If your church has a lot of police checks to complete, see if you can also have a representative come to your church on a Sunday morning.

In His Service,

On behalf of the Classis Hamilton Safe Church Team

John Gilson, Chairperson
Email:      classishamilton@bfree.on.ca

Website:  www.classishamilton.ca (click on the link to Safe Church Team)