Classis Abuse Response Team
Report to Classis Hamilton
September, 2004

Dear Classis Delegates,

Since the May Classis meeting, the Classis Abuse Response Team (CART) has been involved in a number of activities. Here is a summary of these activities:

Advisory Panel Request:
One church council requested an Advisory Panel to investigate an allegation of abuse against a church leader. This was our first request for a Panel hearing. We met in separate meetings with the alleged victim and the accused. The hearings were held in June and a final report presented to the church council in July. It is up to the church council to say more and to bring to classis any specific comments about the accused, the panel process, or any recommendations, discipline steps, removal, etc.

Advisory Panel Training:
Normally five Abuse Response Team (ART) members serve on an Advisory Panel. We currently have five members qualified to serve on such a Panel and we are thankful that all five were able to take part in the Panel hearings in June. We have added four new members to our team (previously approved by Classis) and these members will need to receive training to serve on a Panel. Beth Swagman, Director of Abuse Prevention, will conduct such a training during the last weekend in October. ART members from other Classes who also need the training will be invited to attend.

Pastors, elders and church visitors are also invited to this training. Anyone who could end up counselling in matters dealing with abuse should have knowledge in the dynamics of church leader abuse. Beth Swagman stated that "it never hurts to have more people participate in this training, especially those who are gatekeepers and those concentrating on ecclesiastical matters." So if you would like to attend, or know someone who would benefit from attending, here is the workshop information:

The Communicator Newsletter
We are pleased to report that we have completed our first annual Fall newsletter named the "Communicator". It is available at this classis meeting. Please take home the envelope with your church name on it. There are enough copies to place one in each member's mailbox.

Restorative Justice: We also continued our study of Restorative Justice with the purchase of two resource books for ART members. They are: "Changing Lenses" by Howard Zehr and "Sexual Offending and Restoration" by Mark Yantzi.

Missionary Training:
On July 9, Judy Cook, a member of CART, presented a workshop to short term missionaries on the prevention of child abuse. The original request came from World Missions and CRWRC through the Abuse Prevention Office, Grand Rapids.

Synod and Abuse Prevention:
Two things came out of this June's Synod and they are:

1. The revised guidelines for handling a child's allegation against a church leader were approved. A copy will be sent to every council.
2. The recommendation that "Church Article 84 be revised so that office bearers who commit misconduct against minors and are known to have a pattern of misconduct will not be considered for reinstatement" — will be sent to every church for their input.

There are also some suggested revisions to the ART Panel process. These do not require Synodical approval but BOT approval. Beth is hoping to get that in September in time for our Panel training in October.

CART meeting:
We also continue to meet as a team. We met on August 16 but cannot give a written report on the meeting as it occurred after the agenda deadline.

In His Service,
John Gilson, Chairperson
Classis Hamilton Abuse Response Team
classishamilton@bfree.on.ca