Safe Church Policy

The Maitland River Community Church is committed to protecting our children, other vulnerable individuals who come into our care, and our volunteers and staff, from the harm which can come to them through the evils of abuse.

The following is the Introduction section of the Maitland River Community Church's Safe Church Policy.

Even though we do not like to think about abuse occurring within our community, it is a powerful evil in society and therefore demands our attention.

The Maitland River Community Church is committed to protecting our children, other vulnerable individuals who come into our care, and our volunteers and staff, from the harm which can come to members of our community from this evil.

We address the issue of abuse prevention because:

1. As a church community we must first and foremost be concerned for the safety and care of children and other vulnerable members of our community and believe that their protection and well-being is everyone’s responsibility;
2. We care about our volunteers and paid staff and never want them to be placed in a position in which they could slip into inappropriate behaviour or situations or where allegations could be made against them. We believe that we must help people by making boundaries as clear as it is possible to make them. Incidents of false allegations are rare; however, harm caused by such allegations can be disastrous for all concerned.
3. By promoting the church as a place of safety, we promote the idea that God is safe. We create an environment that supports the idea that God loves us and we are safe in our church community.

The creation and promotion of the guidelines that follow recognize human frailties, but does not imply that we do not trust the workers. The guidelines do, however, make a strong statement that our workers will maintain set standards of conduct and that our church actively supports all laws and regulations designed to protect children and other vulnerable individuals in this community.

Abuse is a powerful evil in society that demands our attention. Maitland River Community Church understands that there are abused persons within our community, and that some may be worshipping with us.  These persons often have been abused by persons in their lives whom they have known and trusted.  The majority of these abuse situations have been by family and/or extended family members.  Regrettably, a common theme throughout these situations has been the absence of the church in a supporting role for the victim and, unfortunately, sometimes in a role of silently ignoring the abusive act.  Our congregation recognises that abuse occurs in our church families and extended families.  This has been verified by our Synod's Committee on Sexual Abuse within the Church.  Because of these findings and our commitment to care for people, MRCC believes it is imperative to institute a policy on child abuse prevention in the church.

The Bible realistically portrays the presence and results of abuse among the people of God (see, for example, the story of Amnon and Tamar in II Samuel 13).  Studies and statistics today indicate an incidence of abuse within the church equal to that in the general population (see the Christian Reformed Church survey by the Calvin College Social Research Center, Agenda for Synod 1992, p. 320).  Synod has urged that every congregation take concrete steps to ensure that the safety of vulnerable persons is treated as paramount within our communities and effective procedures and supports are developed to aid both victims and perpetrators. 1

As a congregation, we realize we must acknowledge the pain of victims and do all we can to continue to support them in their healing. For those accused or convicted of sexual abuse, we must take a pastoral and caring approach while modelling clear boundaries. Finally, to the extent that is possible, we need to provide a ministry of reconciliation – restoring lives and relationships in the grace that comes from Jesus.