SCREENING IN FAITH ARTICLES

Text of address Don Eldon gave to Synod during workshop on screening and carried in Crosstalk January 2001

Screening is necessary even if abuse is rare

By Don Eldon

When screening of clergy and volunteers was first suggested in our Parish Council at St. Bartholomew's, Ottawa, I was dismayed. Questions in my mind were:
Is this necessary? We have no problem here.
Will screening generate an atmosphere of mistrust?
Will we lose volunteers or employees?
Will people think there is something wrong when there is not?
Why should our parish act alone?

But I have learned:
Screening is necessary even if abuse is rare.

One predator can ruin many lives.

We cannot guarantee safe places and safe people for our children, the elderly, the vulnerable - unless we have effective screening. Without screening we cannot properly protect our clergy and volunteers against unwarranted charges of abuse. Our parish is not alone; we are acting as part of the Diocese.

In fact, the parish that opts out of screening will be the parish that finds itself alone - a magnet for predators and lawsuits - because abusers seek out the weakest link. Can we sell our congregations on a confidential screening process tailored to levels of risk?

I am surprised how readily people with children accept it. Screening is common in schools, scouts and other organizations dealing with children. Also I realize that I myself am screened: every time I use an airport - and certainly when I obtained a pass as a volunteer at the National Gallery I was formally screened by the RCMP. People are screened more often than they think. Can we sell the administrative process for screening in our parishes? It is so important that our clergy and people must be resourceful and find a way.

The Bishop gives screening the highest priority. And in turn you can ask the Diocese for help. We must succeed and the Bishop asks for your support.
May I conclude with a prayer for screening:

In my church, Lord, help us:
To make safe places for our children, for elderly people, for vulnerable people.
To build trust in our volunteers, employees and clergy as safe people.
To protect our clergy, volunteers and employees against undeserved allegations.
To sensitize the doubtful and strengthen the workers engaged in screening.
To minister with love, insight and trust to all our people.
To carry through effective screening on a long-term basis.
To remember that the Lord's load is easy and the burden is light.
To preserve the holiness of our mountain of faith.
Amen.

Article written for Community News, March, 2001
Canon Dr. Bill Prentice, Director of Programme,
Diocese of Ottawa.

And now, 200 (or so) more words. . . .

Arrghhh . . .
"More stuff on screening!"
"More forms, more paper work, more stuff to do . . ."

Every month, it seems that we send out more stuff on screening, how to do, info on a change in Police Service policy, something we've figured out and felt the need to share . . . and the work load of it seems to grow. But let me just say three things.

Firstly, we must remember the "why" question. Why do we screen? Because, to fulfill our vocation as the Church, we need to ensure that the vulnerable people who come into our care (and that's all of us, since at one time or another we are all vulnerable, and that includes care-givers as well) are as well cared for and are as safely welcomed as is possible this side of the absolute fulfillment of all things in Christ.

Secondly, this is nothing new. We've been screening people in one way or another since the beginning of the Church's life. Remember Paul telling Timothy the criteria for screening? The Ten Safe Steps of Screening in Faith provide an intentional and easily managed way of doing what we've always done.

Thirdly, if the task looks too big, start working on your parish's screening project at the point at which you are comfortable and where you can actually see that you will have some success. In the ten step process, if you think you can start at Number 7, then start there, if you want to start at Number 1, then start there. But start. Screening is like anything else . . . we start doing it, then we become familiar with it, then it gets easier, and then we more fully fulfill the vocation of Church that Christ has given us.

Article written for the Cursillo Community, published in The Rainbow, March, 2001 Canon Dr. Bill Prentice, Director of Programme,
Diocese of Ottawa.

During the recent Cursillo Weekend (Men's # 86) it was my privilege to sit at the Back Table -- Wayne's World - right on! Excellent! -- as Assistant Spiritual Director (sorry Brian, you were the boss!). In my day job, it is my privilege to serve on the Bishop's staff as Director of Programme for our Diocese.

As Director, I am heavily involved in the "Screening in Faith" project. Screening in Faith (SiF) is a programme that helps us to ensure that we are a Church of

SAFE PEOPLE
SAFE PLACES
SAFE PROCESS

The project's aim is to help us to live up to the vision in Isaiah of God's holy hill (e.g., Isaiah 11:9) -- this is a place where all vulnerable people, both caregivers and care receivers, will know safety and security, where they are welcomed and embraced in a graceful, holy manner.

During the team training and the weekend itself, I began to reflect on the Cursillo method. I realized that the process of the weekend itself creates moments where all of us, each in our own way, are made vulnerable. As leaders in the Church, we need to ensure that the "little ones" (e.g., Matthew 18:6) entrusted to our care are not harmed in any way.

Besides, we have all been given gifts of dignity and worth, we have had value beyond measure heaped us as a gift of grace. Any failures to both recognize and celebrate, to both affirm and respect these gifts in others is a failure to see and welcome the Christ who is among in the vulnerable who come into our care. If we have a right to dignity, worth, safety, security, value, etc., etc., then how much do those who come into our care also have this right. This is only the fulfillment of God's justice (Matthew 25:31-40).

Great words, but how do we live them out?

In a variety of ways . . .

We have, for instance, a tradition of not pressuring people to share more of their life than they are comfortable sharing. We need to support this and continue to respect the personal boundaries of participants. While we may intuit that there is more to be shared, we must not go farther than the person wants to or is prepared to go.

We can, for instance, ask people if they are "a hugger" or "a greeter" when we pass the pass, during the invasion, or when we gather with them for laying on hands with prayer. Some people just don't like to be hugged.

We can, for instance, be careful to ensure that candidates are not so damaged by the traumas of life that the intensities of the weekend will not harm them further. Careful, prayerful discernment is an important part of identifying potential candidates.

We can, for instance, be careful that a Cursillo Team is appropriately staffed. I believe that our Secretariat is already working to implement the "Ten Safe Steps" of volunteers screening when it comes to determining who is on a Cursillo Team. This doesn't mean, by the way, the creation of an ultra-puritan movement, it just means that we all need to ensure that any given Team has the right mix of personalities, skills, spirituality, love joy patience, kindness, etc. And if someone is not invited to participate as a team member, there are many other opportunities for service in the overall Cursillo movement.

We can, for instance, be careful about respecting the private spaces of the team and candidates. Simple things like "knocking and waiting" rather than "knocking and entering" or "just entering" someone's room go a long way to respecting a private space and supporting the security of the person. Even though we may be in a convent or retreat centre or a hotel, we have an obligation to respect a person's private space.

On this issue, we must work to recreate the Manganita allowing it becomes the gentle wake-up call that I believe it was always intended to be. It ought not to be a "hug fest". There are loads of opportunity later in the day for that. As those who participated in the Manganita on the 86th Weekend heard me say, this means that there ought to be no hugging, handshaking, stopping to great, and so on. While I like to think that I am not a prude, there is just something about a fully clothed person hugging a partially clothed and vulnerable person who is not his or her partner in life that "smacks of . . . well, wrong", as one of my colleagues noted. There should absolutely no entering of the room of a participant to "wake them up to help them enjoy and appreciate the Manganita."
Some of these suggestions represent only small changes in the way we interact with each in the Cursillo Movement, but even small changes can represent significant attitudinal shifts. But then, any shift that enables us to better protect vulnerable persons in our care is a shift of grace.

God our Creator
God our Redeemer
God our Life giver
We have all been invited into Christ's ministry,
and
we have been the vocation or invitation by God,
each in our way,
to be caregivers.
Just as we have been equipped
with the graces and skills for ministry,
may we also be enlightened
with the graces and abilities
to welcome and respect
the vulnerable ones who come into our care.

De Colores Bill Prentice,

Table of St. Thomas, November 1977