Code of Ethics Update

By Rev Philip Gardner

Posted Oct 19, 2021 in News,Safe Church

As you will be well aware this has been a disturbing year regarding the reporting of issues around power, sexual harassment and bullying.

The high profile case of Brittany Higgins has led to investigations into systemic issues in our political system. There have been many stories of bullying reported in the papers, including the resignation of high profile New York Governor Andrew Cuomo over allegations of bullying and sexual harassment.

This weekend in ‘The Australian’ there was a feature article in the magazine concerning the treatment of Phoebe Burgess, the ex-wife of rugby league star Sam Burgess, and her treatment by the club and the NRL. The timing of this article was related to Sam Burgess’ ‘redemption’ in his ‘journey’ on the television program SAS Australia. (Sorry for all the quotation marks but I am talking about ‘reality television.’) The sheer volume of the stories I was watching, listening to and reading led to me to decide that for Code of Ethics this year we would focus on power and healthy Christian community.

The issues raised in the headlines have an impact on all our communities. If Christian leadership is informed and shaped by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus then clearly we will be eager to avoid complaints of bullying and harassment. More positively we will be seeking to build communities that are marked by welcome, hospitality and generosity, which always sounds great when saying it but much harder to accomplish in the day-to-day of dealing with difficult people.

We have an opportunity to reflect on these issues with the next round of Code of Ethics refresher training. The material we are drawing together and some of the wider reading and listening that we are suggesting is quite fascinating. To learn more about the upcoming dates for Code of Ethics, either in person or via Zoom check the website. https://safechurch.ucasa.org.au/code-of-ethics/

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