Child Abuse and ‘If you were the PM’
Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
Monday 13th July, 2020
Historic Institutional Child Abuse in NZ.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into ‘Abuse in Care’ is well underway having been launched in early 2019. They are now calling for claims from those who suffered in Faith-based institutions. The Commission is looking into “what happened to children, young people and vulnerable adults in State and faith-based care in Aoteoroa New Zealand between the years 1950-99. We may also listen to survivor experiences before and after these dates”.
Here is a very sad article released over the weekend.
POV. I am calling today for all Christian leaders to be ever so careful about recriminations and accusative talk. I think this is a time of deep reflection and repentance. I do want to acknowledge, however, the superb, timely and costly actions my friend Don Barry made all those years ago (and also Steve Hirst before him). It was an incredibly tough time for both Senior Pastors. Further, do you as a missions organisation, para-church organisation, local church or denomination have a policy in place that clearly states what your response AND immediate action steps would be in the event that something like this should happen in your church/organisation? There should also be a policy on sexual misconduct between consenting adults.
If You Were The PM?
What would you have done? Everyone it seemed had an opinion before, during and after Lockdown. And fair enough. The opinions ranged in the extreme. Everything from downright objectionable, through to conspiracy theories (that seemed to be unleashed upon the earth) and right through to making our PM and Director General of Health national hero’s. So a question to ponder:-
Question: Imagine if you are NZ’s Prime Minister and Dr Ashley Bloomfield is your Chief Health Advisor. What would you have done to manage the Global Coronavirus Pandemic?
Here is an interesting background article. The Pandemic Papers: Inside Story of how NZ fought Covid19.
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Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.
