Changing society, changing guidelines

Dear friends,

In the last two coach’s corners we talked about service.  Two months ago we focused how the process of aging, from the very young to the very old, changes the priorities of our service to each other.  Last month we highlighted the service aspect of our (one hundredth anniversary) year of gratitude to make November a focus month of outreach.  Therefore the first was about service as a result of our own church’s constantly changing demographics, the second was about the celebration of our history.  On this page we need to reflect on our service and how it is impacted by the changing society around us.  First, our society is more diverse, not just ethnically, but in the experiences people have and the opinions they hold; second, our society is busier; third, our society is more litigious; fourth, behavior in our society is less predictable.

It was mostly the diversity of thinking and the fast moving pace of our society that caused the Presbyterian Church to redesign its form of government by making it less cumbersome, lengthy and inflexible.  The result was that once again at Parkview we had to redo our operations manual. So I have spent quite a bit of time on that.  In dialogue with the session we had to answer the question, for example, of whether having a board of deacons was still feasible. In other words could we still have a special body with ordained deacons that are uniquely responsible for the care of the suffering in the congregation?  The answer to that was no.  Parkview is a diverse congregation too fluid for many rigid structures.  This has an effect on the way we serve one another.  Years ago we committed ourselves to be a “caregiving” congregation that takes the sufferings of our community and those beyond it seriously.  I believe that is part of our DNA.  We are fortunate to have many caring people in our community who visit and write cards and bring food and make phone calls to those who urgently experience the burdens of life.  The Presbyterian Women have these tasks worked into their organization even.  Nevertheless as we change and our society changes, the task of caring cannot fall by the wayside. In other words, in a way we are all deacons.

When it comes to the unpredictable behavior of people and the litigiousness in our society, new rules are being put into place by churches all over the country and church insurance companies are starting to demand these new rules.  This is another thing I have been working on in dialogue with the session: a safe-church or abuse prevention policy.  The session has reviewed it and soon we hope to be placing it on our website. This policy entails rules for those who work with minors and other vulnerable people in our community.  It concludes guidelines for being in physical proximity, permission forms and background checks for those who are serving the vulnerable such as Sunday school teachers, those who drive and lead youth etc.  We have decided not to demand finger printing, but must therefore insist on the willingness for background checks.  This will be put into place as we go into the New Year.

The new inevitable guidelines that come to our church as a reaction to societal changes say nothing about Parkview as a community. Our compliance with new rules does not change who we are.  They do not reflect on our health.  I believe that as far as congregations go we are quite a healthy and dynamic community.  May God continue to bless our ministry.  See you in church. Aart