Classis Abuse Response Team
Report to Classis Hamilton
May, 2002

The Classis Abuse Response Team (CART) held its first meeting on March 8, 2002. The meeting was chaired by Pastor Carel Geleynse, Chair of the Classis Ad Hoc Committee on Abuse Prevention. Also in attendance was Beth Swagman, CRC Director of Abuse Prevention, Grand Rapids.

The purpose of this meeting was two-fold

  1. to meet the members of the team and
  2. to understand the mandate of the team

We currently have five members on the team and they are:
John Benjamins - Immanuel, Hamilton
Judy Cook - Fellowship, Ancaster
John Gilson - Hope, Brantford (Chairperson)
Jacques Gouws - Bethel, Waterdown (Recorder)
Lori Hensen - Ancaster

Beth led the discussion on our responsibilities. There are three main areas of responsibility:

  1. Panel - A fact finding panel and also to provide the process to follow when allegations surface about a church leader or a former church leader.
  2. Support - for both the Victim and Abuser.
  3. Education - to provide some education to the churches in all types of abuse.

Here are some points that came out of our discussion with Beth Swagman and Pastor Geleynse.

  1. We are accountable to Classis Hamilton and therefore will submit a report for each Classis meeting.
  2. The members of the team are committed to a three year term, renewable once, to generate conformity and then enter into a 1, 2, and 3 year terms to ensure that one-third of the team is replaced each year. This seems to be the procedure with most Classis committees and so we thought we would try this as well.
  3. Most of our referrals will likely come directly from the churches and so our work will also be accountable to the church.
  4. Our role is not to determine guilt or innocence but to assess a situation and to make recommendations, offer available resources, support networks, etc.
  5. We do not deal with Child Abuse. The Laws are very clear on child abuse. As soon as a situation of child abuse comes to light, it must be reported immediately to the Children's Aid Society and they have their structures and procedures.
  6. Our responsibilities are limited to abuse by a leader in the church which would include any leader of any group, such as a Cadet leader, a Gems counsellor, a Church School teacher, etc. It may be that the alleged abuse took place several years ago when the victim was much younger and the accused is now no longer a leader. The person was a leader at the time of the offense and thus falls within our mandate.
  7. It becomes very evident that the size of the committee is too small to satisfy all three aspects of the mandate. It would be nice to have 15 members (one from each church) that we can subdivide into three groups (one to concentrate on education, one for support, and one for the panel). Without a proper number of members, aspects of the mandate will likely need to be curtailed.

The following day, on Saturday, March 9, some of us were able to attend the annual Inter-Classis Abuse Prevention Response Team at Redeemer College. There were nearly 100 in attendance and so this area of abuse dynamics is beginning to generate more interest. Workshop topics included:

The following points became apparent from the conference:

  1. Several churches in Classis Hamilton and in other classes do have Abuse Prevention Committees.
  2. Several of these churches have experienced problems in getting church leaders to attend abuse prevention meetings. Sometimes only two or three people show up.
  3. Some churches make it mandatory to attend these mini workshops in order to be able to teach or to take on some other leadership role in the church.
  4. Some churches have produced a booklet that is distributed to each leader who must read its contents and then sign a statement that they have read, understand and agree to the terms.
  5. In addition to a booklet, one church created a video from one of the workshops that potential leaders can also watch at home.
  6. Some churches have an abuse prevention committee of 3 or 4 people or more while others have only one or two people looking after things.

There appear to be two types of abuse teams within any classis:

  1. A team established by Classis Hamilton and other Classes called Classis Abuse Response Team (CART). This team's mandate concerns "leadership" abuse.
  2. A team (or committee) set up in the local church to deal with both response and prevention called Local Abuse Response Team (LART). There are, however, variations on the name such as Abuse Prevention & Response Team (APRT). Generally this committee is responsible for the church's abuse prevention policy and implementing the policy. In some cases, this team's mandate also includes abuse involving members who are not leaders and spousal abuse.

There are still many classes that do not have teams in place. Some have had them and are no longer functioning. Sometimes this is due to the large distances the members are from each other making it very difficult to get together. In some cases it was lack of Classis support for resources and expense reimbursements and in other cases simply not enough people were interested.

Some people may argue that we do not need these local and classical committees as "nothing has happened here before". Remember that these local teams serve one very important purpose and that is in providing a safe place for your children. It protects both the child and the adult and it safeguards the church. Keep in mind also that most offenses are not committed by strangers and one case of abuse can adversely affect a child for many years to come – well into adulthood. Parents need to feel that they are sending their child to a safe place. We would also want visitors to come and say that "We can trust this church with our children".

By the time you read this report, the team will also have attended further training workshops in London on Friday evening, May 3, 7 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A report on these training sessions will be prepared for the next Classis meeting.

Obviously we are on a sharp learning curve. Do we have the full support of Classis? Here are our recommendations.

We, the Classis Abuse Response Team recommend to Classis that:

  1. Classis acknowledge the importance of this committee.
  2. Classis will remember us in prayer and that the Lord will bless this new team in both importance and growth and that we will be a blessing to those who may require our services.
  3. Classis provide some financial support. There are a number of resources that are free but there are also some that could be purchased and distributed to the churches for their libraries or for the Local Abuse Response Teams. Also, who pays for the workshops that we are expected to attend? There are some costs involved. We recommend the following:
  4. That each pastor without a representative from his church on the team, make another effort to attract a member for the team. A personal contact is often more effective than a Bulletin announcement and so we recommend that you look over your membership and speak to people personally and with personal invitations.
  5. That each Pastor let their local team know that there is now a Classis team and the mandate of this team and that we are there to help in any way that we can.

Submitted by:

John Gilson, Chairperson
Classis Abuse Response Team