PARK VIEW MENNONITE CHURCH
Statement on Confidentiality
from pastors, elders, and staff
Statement on Confidentiality
from pastors, elders, and staff
As church leaders, we welcome and encourage members and friends to come to us with spiritual, emotional, and relational struggles. We want you to know that we will treat your struggles with care and respect, and will hold our discussions in confidence. However, the promise of confidentiality in any conversation has limits. We are ethically (and often legally) bound to report to persons in authority if we learn that you pose a threat to yourself or others, or if there is sexual or physical abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult involved. There are other limits, in the interest of your own well-being and that of the congregation, as explained below.
We will not gossip or speak lightly of anyone in the church. Our calling to promote health in the congregation does include the following when hurting people come to us for help:
The church offers many resources for healing, and we will want to draw on those resources. Whenever possible, we will keep you fully informed and give you choices in what we share and to whom. But keeping your secrets is not our first priority — helping you find wholeness is.
We don't want the fear of exposure to keep you from approaching any of us. Neither do we want a promise of absolute confidentiality to tie our hands in offering you our best help. If you have something you are not ready to share with any other person in the church, let us help you find a professional counselor who can meet your desire for full confidentiality. If you can honor us with your struggle, know that we will work with you — discreetly and compassionately — to provide the best help your church family has to offer.
We will not gossip or speak lightly of anyone in the church. Our calling to promote health in the congregation does include the following when hurting people come to us for help:
- There may be times when we talk to another elder or pastor — or in more serious and complex situations the whole group of elders and pastors — to solicit counsel and prayer and engage in collective discernment.
- When other people at this church are involved we may approach others to get a fuller insight into the situation and foster reconciliation. It is not generally helpful to listen to stories involving others without talking to those persons directly.
- When we are made aware of a struggle that someone else in the congregation has experienced and overcome, we may speak to that person and enlist their wisdom in dealing with your kind of struggle. Or, with your permission, we may facilitate a direct connection with someone who may be uniquely able to understand and support you.
The church offers many resources for healing, and we will want to draw on those resources. Whenever possible, we will keep you fully informed and give you choices in what we share and to whom. But keeping your secrets is not our first priority — helping you find wholeness is.
We don't want the fear of exposure to keep you from approaching any of us. Neither do we want a promise of absolute confidentiality to tie our hands in offering you our best help. If you have something you are not ready to share with any other person in the church, let us help you find a professional counselor who can meet your desire for full confidentiality. If you can honor us with your struggle, know that we will work with you — discreetly and compassionately — to provide the best help your church family has to offer.
“God has put the body together… that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it;
if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
— 1 Cor. 12:24-27
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it;
if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
— 1 Cor. 12:24-27
