Statement on Spiritual Abuse

Irish Church Missions is an Anglican Evangelical church-planting network, united by Christ’s compassion for the people of Ireland and committed to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. 

The churches in the network are often referred to as “the churches of ICM”, because they have been planted with support from ICM.  However they exist on a continuum of dependency; some are more closely linked with central office than others.  This is due to the capacity of individual churches to undertake all that is required by them, for example in, charity law, safeguarding provision and financial obligations.  ICM exists to strengthen these individual churches with the support they require in their present need.  It rejoices in the growing capacity of individual churches to oversee all aspects of their governance, and at the same time is a willing support for churches that require its assistance.

As part of this support we aim to set and maintain the highest levels of protection for all under our care.  Our trustees, and the office bearers of any church we are associated with are therefore committed to promoting and facilitating best governance and pastoral practices within our churches.  This includes safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.  However it is not limited to this.  By extension, as a network, we recognise that spiritual coercion, pastoral malpractice and abuse in all its forms is offensive to God and deeply damaging to the victims.  

We therefore require all churches who wish to be a part of our network to exercise (amongst other vital policies and processes) their own individual rigorous safeguarding policy and we strongly recommend the adoption of a clear complaints policy.  

We remind the churches that where there are allegations of illegal activity, we expect these to be properly reported to the statutory authorities.

If ICM is given credible reason to believe that a church within our network has systematically failed to act in accordance with its own safeguarding policy and refuses to subsequently ensure appropriate action is taken internally, then ICM will ask the church to deal with the matter urgently.  If the church fails to take reasonable appropriate action, the trustees will consider suspending that church’s participation in the network until the issues have been adequately addressed and, where necessary, a report will be made to the statutory regulatory bodies.

If it is alleged that a church has failed to properly act in accordance with its own complaints policy, ICM trustees will contact the church involved to seek reassurances.  If the church cannot confirm that it has properly handled the complaint, then ICM trustees will encourage the church to make further efforts to resolve the complaint in accordance with its complaints policy.  If any church is found to be repeatedly in breach of its own complaints policy, the ICM trustees will consider suspending that church’s participation in the network until the issues have been adequately addressed. 

Recent high-profile cases have also reminded us that church leaders, or others in the local church involved in leadership and pastoral care, can behave in ways that, whilst not illegal, do fall short of the standards expected of a person with pastoral responsibility. This behaviour may range from serious misconduct (including coercion or control) to simply being unwise in relating to others.  Again, we expect local churches to take appropriate disciplinary action where it is needed. ICM trustees will consider suspending a pastor’s participation in the network during the investigation of a credible allegation of misconduct. Where a pastor of a church in our network has been shown, after credible investigation by a reputable body, to be guilty of misconduct, the trustees of ICM will consider terminating their participation in the network and, if required the trustees of ICM will report the pastor to the appropriate statutory bodies.

In all cases of potential misconduct, ICM is encouraging its churches to make the appropriate pastoral care of victims their primary concern, and in this regard, where appropriate to seek external advice from professionals.

To assist the churches of the network in upholding the highest standards of pastoral practice – which are servant-hearted rather than coercive – we are running a series of Shepherd’s Hut seminars on leadership and producing a handbook that all leaders and staff are expected to abide by. We also provide other resources that major on healthy servant-hearted leadership, for example Lead by Paul Tripp, The Faithful Church Planter by Tony Merida and other web-based material and an audit for leadership.

Our full complaints policy and procedure can be found here.

This statement was adopted by the trustees of ICM on 3rd March 2022 and will be subject to annual review.