This year’s series of annual meetings of the main Protestant churches has ended, but as members seek the sun on their summer holidays, a dark cloud still hangs over the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI).
It is still under scrutiny by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland because of failings in its central safeguarding functions. In another important move recently, An Garda Síochána has appealed to anyone in the Republic who believes that they were “a victim of abuse or a criminal act relating to the PCI” to contact their local Garda station or the Garda at 1800 555222, a confidential line.
This development is not surprising as gardaí have been liaising with the PSNI on this matter since last year. The then moderator the Rt Rev Dr Trevor Gribben sent shock waves through the PCI and wider community when, last November, he abruptly stepped down over perceived serious failings in the church’s safeguarding practices between 2009 and 2022.
He was the first moderator to resign in the long history of the PCI, and this inevitably attracted widespread attention. It also caused unprecedented upheaval in the annual routine of the church. Since Gribben’s abrupt departure, there have been special general assembly meetings of Presbyterians in December last and in February this year, as well as its annual assembly in Belfast last month.
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The sense of shame and guilt hanging over these assemblies was revealed by the new Moderator Rt Rev Dr Richard Kerr who said: “We have failed in our central safeguarding to protect the people who most need [to be] protected. People precious to God have been harmed as a result. Our concern is rightly for those who are victims of our failings. External investigations and independent reviews of our safeguarding and structures are ongoing. This is a matter of great shame to us as a denomination.”
Words of apology are not enough and people have been asking what is happening on the ground. They were given some answers at the latest general assembly by the newly appointed director of operations, Ken Swarbrick, who revealed that the PCI has appointed several safeguarding policy officers, as well as several full-time and part-time administrative officers.
He also stated that the PCI has delivered safeguarding training to more than 3,000 leaders and more than 1,400 elders. Swarbrick revealed that the PCI was so far unable to fill the post of head of safeguarding, though Caitlin Neale is taking up her post as safeguarding training officer this month.
Significantly, Swarbrick underlined that the safeguarding department is overstretched. While current safeguarding policies and procedures “are perhaps not perfect, they are good and will continue to develop.”
It remains to be seen, however, if the creation of complex new structures and posts will be understood by pew Presbyterians and many others.
The PCI’s programme to deal with its flaws in safeguarding is very much a work in progress, and everything continues to be overshadowed by the outcomes of the investigations by the PSNI, the Charity Commission and gardaí.
Are ordinary Presbyterians aware of the nature of the allegations about safeguarding failures which lie behind the somewhat sanitised term “safeguarding”?
Whatever the outcome, this painful and embarrassing journey for the PCI is not going to end any time soon.
- Alf McCreary is former Religion Correspondent with the Belfast Telegraph
