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Message
Minister
and President’s Message
Pastors
need to communicate about limits of confidentiality
June,
2002
By
Nancy S. Taylor
For
the first time in the history of this Commonwealth, clergy are required
by law to report any reasonable suspicions of child abuse to the authorities.
The statute was signed into law on May 3, 2002 and will affect how both
clergy and laity regard the question of confidentiality in counseling,
pastoral care, and spiritual nurture. As one who worked for and promoted
this law, I was asked at a recent clergy gathering to suggest a way
to communicate the law, and its implications, to our congregations.
Therefore,
I suggest that each congregation publish a letter in the church newsletter.
The letter could 1) be co-signed by the pastor and church moderator;
2) outline the implications of the new law; 3) describe the limits of
confidentiality. Here is a sample letter.
Dear
Parishioners:
On May 3, 2002 a new statute was signed into law. This law requires
clergy to report any reasonable suspicions of child abuse. The law mandates
that there is a limit to confidentiality, even between a pastor and
a parishioner. That limit is reached, or overreached, when the pastor
has a reasonable suspicion that a child is being harmed (either neglected,
or abused physically, sexually, or psychologically).
Under most circumstances you can depend upon a pastor to keep your communications
confidential. You should know, however, that a pastor who suspects that
harm is being done to a child now has a legal responsibility to report
that suspicion to the authorities.
This
is a good and important law. It gives priority to victims, rather than
shelter to victimizers. The law insists that clergy have a sacred trust
to protect the most vulnerable among us, rather than a misplaced confidence
in the power of a “secret” held between a predator and a “confessor”.
The law also reminds us all that a pastor is responsible for the well
being of the whole flock, not merely for the sinner who confides evil
doing.
Clergy and laity in the United Church of Christ have been conferring
on this matter since the news of the sex scandals in the Roman Catholic
Church. Indeed, UCC leaders were instrumental in shaping and lobbying
for this law that now makes clergy mandated reporters. The law reinforces
what we in the United Church of Christ deeply believe: Jesus calls us
to express compassion, in the most practical ways, to those who are
suffering and who are least able to fend for themselves. In other words,
what has long been our moral obligation is now our duty under the law.
In addition to clergy, the law applies to two other categories of church
personnel: anyone performing church duties in the role of a pastor (including
deacons who serve communion, lay ministers, parish visitors), and a
select group of church employees (not volunteers), such as those who
supervise, educate, coach, train, or counsel children on a regular basis.
These persons, along with clergy, are now REQUIRED to report reasonable
suspicions of child abuse.
Please note that no one is, or ever has been, PROHIBITED from reporting
reasonable suspicions of child abuse. We are working to create a culture
in Massachusetts and in our churches in which child abuse simply isn’t
tolerated…whether the perpetrator is a clergy person, or someone confessing
to a clergy person.
The new Massachusetts’ law will help us all to bring into the light
those dark misdeeds that can only breed in secrecy. Confiding suspicions
of child abuse to the proper authorities is good for the perpetrator,
who is deeply in need of restraint as well as of healing. It is also
good for our children for whom we are responsible. Finally, it is good
for the church. It acknowledges that a violation of trust is never only
between victim and victimizer. It is an unraveling of the whole fabric
by which a community of faith is held together.
Sincerely,
Church Pastor & Church Moderator
