In reference to this week’s weekly article, and in particular to the question of complaints procedures within the church, surely it is time for Methodism to bite the bullet and become much clearer in the way it deals with disciplinary questions.
At present it seems that it’s impossible for anybody to take any form of disciplinary action without making a formal complaint. Often such a procedure could only be seen as using a sledge hammer to crack a nut (and so often nothing is done about minor problems until they escalate into a catalogue of woes), but when a complaint is tabled the speed and professionalism of the present process is derisible. (I know of one very serious complaint that took over a year from the complaint being made to the first formal hearing.)
Delays and prevarications due to panel members being on holiday or busy not only reveal the amateurish approach to such procedures, they also serve to exacerbate the tension and stress for all involved.
If a complaint is made there should be a clear and concise procedure that results in a clear concise judgement. Only then can people move on with their lives.
Sadly there seems to be a current trend in the church towards ‘mediation’. I’m the first to advocate diplomacy, but surely by the time a formal complaint has been made what both sides require is deliberation. If a complaint is upheld then the subject of the complaint should face appropriate disciplinary action. If the complaint is invalid, then it is hardly fair to expect someone who has been dragged unnecessarily through the stress and indignity of a complaints procedure to then spend more of their time trying to solve a problem for which they had no part in creating.
I suspect this fashion of ‘mediation’ is a symptom of the `niceness` that is crippling the church. Usually it only serves to disguise a desire to sit on the fence and fudge the issue. We aren’t prepared to say what is right or wrong, but rather feign to see the good in those who have behaved badly (which is admirable) and force those have behaved well to shoulder some of the responsibility (which is not!)
Christ didn’t spend a lot of time mediating or pandering to people who behaved badly. He was fair and strict – as the church should be!
