HANDLING GRIEVANCES WITHIN THE CHURCH FAMILY
The Bible teaches that as a family, united as one body in Christ, we are to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace cf. Eph 4:3. We have been called into the mystery of the Gospel to make known the manifold wisdom of God that all things will be brought together under one head; Christ. Our fellowship at KCW demonstrates that unity which has brought peace between us and God and peace with one another.
Given that unity is such a crucial distinctive of the body of Christ the NT consistently call us as a fellowship to love one another with costly, generous, humble love cf. Rom 12:10, 1Thess 4:9, I Peter 1:5-7. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians asks his readers to be completely humble and gentle, being patient and bearing with one another in love cf. Eph 4:2. We are the body of Christ, our unity is precious and anything that threatens that unity is condemned e.g. ‘warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them’ cf. Titus 3:10 ‘…rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander…’ cf. Col 3:8. Therefore, each of us has a duty to deal with one another in a manner worthy of the Gospel of unity, and so where we have grievances, we are to speak truth in love and forgive as the Lord has forgiven us cf. Col 3:13.
In Matt 18:15 Jesus prescribes a process for dealing with sin in the church which is helpful for handling grievances.
Should we have a grievance with anyone in the church therefore…
1. Please seek a defined face-to-face meeting (in person or online) to raise your concern. Please do your best to have a clear description of your concern/complaint and any relevant facts/dates/witnesses noted. Please also consider carefully what you think resolution (listening to you cf. Matt 18:16) would mean for you.
Please try to do this as soon as possible so the details are fresh in both sets of people’s minds. It is much harder to answer grievances which go back months/years.
2. If the person addressed does not listen, then arrange another meeting and take one or two other witnesses along with you so that every matter may be established by the testimony of multiple witnesses.
3. If the person involved still will not listen, then please contact the Senior Pastor or an elder and they will seek a meeting with you and one other elder to hear your grievance. If the grievance concerns the Senior Pastor then please contact one of the elders of the church – who will seek a meeting with you and another elder.
In preparation for that meeting please bring with you your clear description of the concern/complaint and any relevant facts/dates/witnesses plus your thoughts on why you feel your concern/complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily.
The Senior Pastor and elder will then meet with you and the other party to discuss the grievance and should a proven grievance not be listened to then the elders of the church will take disciplinary measures. If the grievance is not proven then the elders will seek reconciliation and forgiveness between all parties.
This same procedure would be applicable for any grievance concerning a member of staff or an elder. Our staff team and elders strive to care for individuals and to serve everybody - without discrimination in a way that will please and honour our Lord Jesus. However, we will sometimes make mistakes and we realise that may be painful for those affected. If you have a grievance please follow the procedure already outlined by first meeting with them one-to one, then with other witnesses and then with elders present (who are not implicated in the grievance). Should your proven grievance not be listened to, King’s Church Walton is part of The Co-Mission Churches Trust and you may appeal to them by following the charity’s Complaints Procedure below.
N.B. The procedure outlined above should not be used where there is a safeguarding concern about a staff member, elder or any other member of the fellowship. In such instances concerns should be reported in accordance with the Co-Mission Churches Trust Safeguarding policy. If there is uncertainty whether something constitutes a safeguarding concern, please contact Simon Martin in the first instance. If Simon is implicated, please contact an appropriate elder of the church.
All grievances concerning staff and/or elders will be:
· Listened to fairly with a view to discerning truth and where necessary need for repentance and/or ministry review.
· Provided with guidance on positive next steps towards restoration and forgiveness.
· Heard in the context of as much relevant information as possible: facts/dates/witnesses.
Contacts
· Simon Martin – Senior Pastor and Elder – simon@kingschurchwalton.co.uk
· Chris Gunter – Senior Elder – chris@gunter.family
· Jurgen Wellinger – Elder – jurgen.wellinger@gmail.com
CMCT COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
(b) Where concerns are not dealt with satisfactorily by the local church, or are of such a serious nature that further contact with the staff involved would be inappropriate or potentially harmful, the following procedure should be followed.
1.3 This procedure may be used by anyone (whether or not a member of a CMCT church) who wishes to complain about the conduct of any CMCT staff. In this procedure, “staff” means any employee, worker, trustee, elder or consultant of CMCT.
1.4 This procedure should not be used by CMCT employees. If any employee of CMCT wishes to complain about the conduct of another employee, they should use the Grievance Procedure as set out in the CMCT Staff Handbook.
1.5 This procedure should not be used where there is a safeguarding concern about CMCT staff. In such instances, the concerns should be reported in accordance with the CMCT Safeguarding Policy. If there is uncertainty as to whether something constitutes a safeguarding concern, Stephen Hatherall should be contacted in the first instance (see contact details below).
1.6 Concerns should be reported as soon as possible so that they can be investigated promptly. We will always investigate such reports.
1.7 If you have any questions about this process please contact Stephen Hatherall by email: stephen.hatherall@co-mission.org or by phone 020 8181 5299.
2. HOW TO RAISE A CONCERN
2.1 This procedure should be used to report complaints about any of our staff. We take all complaints extremely seriously. Examples (not exhaustive) of where it would be appropriate to use this procedure are: bullying behaviour, coercion, manipulation, dishonesty, inappropriate sexual behaviour, criminal activity, and bribery.
2.2 Any complaint should be submitted in writing (by post or email) to Stephen Hatherall (Co-Mission Churches Trust, 577 Kingston Road, London SW20 8SA) or stephen.hatherall@co-mission.org) and you should clearly state that you want your complaint to be handled under the Complaints Procedure.
2.3 The complaint should set out:
(a) Your contact details;
(b) Whether or not you are a current or former member of a CMCT church;
(c) A brief description of the nature of your complaint, including any relevant facts, dates, and names of individuals involved.
In some situations we may ask you to provide further information.
2.4 We will aim to acknowledge receipt of your written complaint within 14 days of receipt.
2.5 All reports will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
3. CONFIDENTIALITY
3.1 All complaints submitted under this procedure will be handled sensitively. We hope that you will feel able to voice concerns openly under this policy. Completely anonymous disclosures are difficult to investigate. If you want to raise your concern confidentially, we will make every effort to keep your identity secret and only reveal it where necessary to those involved in investigating your concern. Please notify us if you wish your concerns to be investigated confidentially in this way.
4. INVESTIGATIONS
4.1 All complaints and concerns raised under this procedure are taken seriously and they will all be investigated, as long as you provide us with your contact details so that we can request further information from you (where necessary) and so that we can send you the outcome of the investigation. The amount of any investigation required will depend on the nature of the allegations and will vary from case to case. You will usually be invited to a meeting to discuss the nature of your complaint and the person being complained against will be excluded from that meeting unless all parties consent to their attendance.
4.2 You will be expected to co-operate fully and promptly in any investigation. This may include informing us of the names of any relevant witnesses, disclosing any relevant documents to us and attending interviews, as part of our investigation.
4.3 Following an assessment of the facts, a decision will be taken as to whether the matter can be dealt with internally or whether it is necessary to refer the matter to a third party for investigation, such as to an independent Christian organisation, the local authority or the police.
5. THE OUTCOME
5.1 We will endeavour to resolve your complaint as promptly as we can, but if it gives rise to serious issues we may need to take time in order to conduct a thorough investigation.
5.2 You will be notified in writing of the outcome of the investigation as soon as possible.
6. REVIEW
6.1 If the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction you may request a review of the decision.
6.2 Requests for a review should be submitted in writing to Stephen Hatherall (see contact details above) within 14 days of the date on which the outcome of the investigation was sent or given to you.
6.3 The review will be dealt with impartially by a member of the CMCT staff (usually a senior employee, church elder or trustee) not involved in the previous investigation where possible (although they may ask anyone previously involved to contribute to their review of the previous decision).
6.4 We will confirm our final decision in writing, usually within four weeks of your submission of your request for a review. This is the end of the procedure and there is no further right of review.
