Classis Hamilton Safe Church Team
Report to Classis
September, 2007
Dear Classis Delegates,
Synod 2007 rejected an overture to mandate classes to have a Safe Church Team. In the July issue of the Banner, page 35, “Safe Church Teams a Priority”, Synod 2007 did make it clear that every classis must have child safety policies and a Safe Church Team to protect its most vulnerable members. It also stated in this article that Safe Church Teams do not exist primarily to deal with abuse complaints, but to educate with the focus on the prevention side.
An allegation of abuse does harm to a congregation. Nothing can ruin the ministry of a church quicker than an allegation of abuse against a church leader. It tears a church apart often resulting in a loss of membership. In some cases damage awards have been astronomical — over $1M. A church is vulnerable if it has no insurance. The Office of Abuse Prevention noted that the denomination has held several Advisory Panel Hearings in the last 13 months. An Advisory Panel is initiated when there is an allegation of abuse against a church leader.
One of our Safe Church Team members was told by a member that it was illegal for a church to retain copies of the police checks but that we only needed to have a list of those who had them run. We called one of the police forces with this concern and the person in charge of abuse prevention and police checks stated that it was not illegal to keep police checks on file. Most organizations keep the checks or a copy of the checks on file. However, we were expected to keep them on file in a locked cabinet for privacy purposes. Also, members have a right to know what happens to them. That is, the people have a right to know where they are kept under lock and key and who has access to them. One place where this can be addressed is in the church’s Privacy Policy which the officer said was sufficient. In some churches, the church secretary handles the police checks. All checks are handed in to the secretary who keeps them in a locked filing cabinet in the church office. If the secretary notices something out of the ordinary, then a designated member of the church’s Safe Church Team is notified.
As stated in our May report to classis, Faith Alive has a set of resources called Safekeeping: Session Plans for Developing Abuse Awareness in Kids a new 2-session Sunday School program that is essential for any children’s ministry. Safekeeping helps children in grades K-8 realize that they are created in God’s image and that they are worthy of respect and love. We received orders for a set of resources from 5 of the 15 classis churches.
Your team still continues to be contacted by other denominations for assistance — especially in the area of resources. The latest request for permission to use our resources is from the Seventh Day Adventist church.
We plan to distribute our third issue of The Communicator to each church member through the delegates to this September classis meeting. This is our fourth annual Fall issue.
One of our team members, Gina Mantel (Calvary CRC, Flamborough), has resigned
from the team due to her demanding work schedules. We wish Gina the very best
and we thank her for her contributions to the team. We now have 8 members on
the team. They are:
Lori Hensen (Ancaster CRC, Ancaster)
Judy Cook (Meadowlands Fellowship CRC, Ancaster)
John Gilson, Chairperson (Hope CRC, Brantford)
Monica Heeg-Admiral (Community CRC, Hagersville)
John Benjamins (Immanuel CRC, Hamilton)
Brenda Hofland (Ebenezer CRC, Jarvis)
Tony Boer (Ebenezer CRC, Jarvis)
Bette Vander Giessen (Bethel CRC, Waterdown)
If your church is not represented on the team and you know of
someone who would be an asset to the team, please inform the chair.
In His Service
On behalf of the Classis Hamilton Safe Church Team
John Gilson, Chairperson
www.classishamilton.ca/SafeChurchTeam.htm