Q & A: Re Why parishes are being required to create individual SafeR Church Plans

A number of parishes have asked the following question in one form or another: 

Q: Why is each parish being required to create and implement its own SafeR Church Plan? Is it in an effort to transfer legal liability from the diocese to the parish if something were to happen?

A: There’s a misconception embedded in the question, so let’s sort that out first. The basic situation is that an Anglican parish, just like any other organization, has legal (as well as moral and ethical) duties and responsibilities related to

(1) the programs, services, and activities the parish offers or participates in,

(2) the people who lead or assist in these programs and services (and others who may come onto church premises for different purposes), and

(3) the premises where these services, programs, and activities are held or carried out.

The nature and extent of those duties, responsibilities, and obligations depends on the specific situation and circumstances; however, primary exposure to potential liability for harm that might take place in the course of a parish program, service, or activity lies with the parish that offers it, not with the diocese.

Moreover, if a program, service, or activity is entirely under the control of the parish—i.e., if the parish alone makes decisions about its content, how it is conducted, who is involved, where it takes place, etc.---then the diocese may have little or no exposure to liability in relation to harm that might be done in the course of that program, service, or activity.

For example, it is unlikely that the diocese would be exposed to liability for harm done in a parish’s Sunday School Program, unless the diocese has some control over that program, i.e., how it is conducted, the curriculum used, the processes used to screen teachers, leaders, or helpers, etc.

On the other hand, the diocese could be exposed to potential liability in situations where it does have some control over what a parish does or how it does it. For example, both the parish and the diocese have certain areas of authority, responsibility, and control in the appointing of the parish priest. If a parish priest causes harm, both the parish and the diocese, in certain circumstances, might be exposed to potential liability (as would the priest, of course).  

Individual parishes are being required to create individual SafeR Church Plans because primary responsibility for what goes on under the parish’s “roof,” so to speak, lies with the parish itself.

In addition, it is the people directly involved in a parish who are best able to identify the specific inherent and foreseeable risks related to (1) the programs, services, and activities offered by the parish, (2) the people who lead, assist, and participate in them (as well as others who may be on the premises), and (3) the premises on which they are offered, and to determine prudent, reasonable, appropriate, and effective measures to reduce the likelihood that harm will be done, and to increase the likelihood that things will go well.