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Aspects of Pastoral Care

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

Ephesians 4.11–13

1.1. Defining pastoral care

Through baptism all God’s people have a gift of ministry from the ascended Christ to be offered for the good of the whole Body of Christ. The heart of all ministry is self-giving love and the priestly ministry of all Christians is to enable one another to be brought into touch with the loving heart of God (Eph. 4).

Pastoral care is central to the life of the Church and determined by the command to love God with heart and soul and mind and one’s neighbour as oneself. This implies a reciprocal response, as people are enabled both to receive and to give love (Campbell 1985). Christians believe that love lies at the heart of God and that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of that love. So Christians, committed to the belief that God loves us all unconditionally, seek to reflect the love of God for each unique human being (Wright 1982).

The fundamental aim of pastoral care is the enactment of this love, incorporating the pastoral functions of healing, sustaining, guiding and reconciling witnessed in the priestly ministry of Jesus and in the life of the early Church (Clebsch and Jeakle 1994).

These aspects of pastoral care may be expressed in a wide variety of activities, involving individuals, groups and communities and undertaken from within the faith community. It is not only about responding to problems but also encompasses the celebration of what is good:

… it is also about sharing in community, feasting in friendship, exchanging mutual support … Pastoral care may include befriending, promoting self-help activities, giving material aid, creating opportunities for increased learning, campaigning, protesting against unjust events and structures, pastoral education, community development, crisis management and conflict mediation. (Diocesan Advisers in Pastoral Care and Counselling 1995)

Liturgy is also an expression of pastoral care, enabling worshippers to connect their individual stories with the story of God’s love for his people; every aspect of public worship will contribute to an image of God as one who invites, includes and empowers or who appears to do the reverse. Liturgy shapes the church community and should enable the whole people of God to fulfil a richly varied ministry of pastoral care regardless of education or social background (Green 1987). Administration is also an important aspect of pastoral ministry, communicating respect and care when it is done well.

The spectrum of pastoral care may range from simple acts of spontaneous kindness to planned interventions, which, while firmly rooted in theological understanding, may also draw on the insights of secular disciplines, such as social work, counselling and community development (Campbell 1985). Although pastoral care is therefore both a corporate and an individual activity, this book will focus primarily on ministry to individuals on their own, or within their family, friendship or community network.

1.2. Differentiating pastoral care and counselling

Since the latter half of the twentieth century counselling and psychotherapy as specific disciplines, contained within the wider range of pastoral care activities, have had a profound influence on the care that ministers (particularly those who are ordained) offer to individuals. This influence brings both valuable insights and potential hazards.

The original meaning of the word ‘counselling’ is rooted in the Christian tradition of pastoral care. Its appropriation to describe a specific therapeutic activity is a late-twentieth-century development which has become widely accepted as counselling has become professionalized. Unfortunately, as pastoral ministry has been increasingly influenced by the developing role of the secular professional counsellor, there has been a tendency to lose the distinction between pastoral care and counselling and to undervalue pastoral care as an activity in its own right (Bridger and Atkinson 1994). It is essential to be aware that, while all ordained ministers are pastoral carers, not all are counsellors in the contemporary secular sense. It is also important to recognize that, although counsellors can enable their clients’ exploration of spiritual issues, this does not make them pastors. They too need to be aware of their limitations and to recognize the skills, knowledge and experience of the ordained minister.

Christopher Moody, in his book Eccentric Ministry (1992), distinguishes between pastoral care and counselling, exploring how the ordained minister’s role is to create a living contact between the tradition of the faith community and the individual’s experience. Sometimes the minister will do very little, other than to be a presence at times of crisis or loss of meaning in people’s lives, perhaps being a recipient of their anger with God, or enabling those who do not believe to catch a glimpse of the gracious activity of God. While counselling and therapy tend to be individualistic in approach, the ordained minister will see pastoral ministry in the wider context of a relationship with God and with the faith community, and may offer pastoral advice, spiritual counsel, prayer and sacramental ministry. Unlike secular professional counselling, which has clearly defined boundaries of time and place, pastoral care of individuals may occur in many formal and informal settings. The informality of pastoral care is one of its assets in a society where most professional help is formalized and given by appointment. In contrast, pastoral care can seem untidy and ill-defined, but it is probably much closer to the messy reality of people’s lives, where they share their troubles when they can and often do so under the cover of a noisy television, on a car journey, at the pub or when meeting by chance on their way somewhere else. Such spontaneity requires availability and will not happen if the minister’s diary is always packed with formal appointments.

Pastoral care may be in one-to-one encounter or involve other church and family members and friends. Unlike a counselling relationship, a pastoral care relationship may be initiated by the minister and the minister will be known as a person with other relationships within the faith community. Meetings may be in a person’s home, rather than church premises, and friendship may become a dimension of this caring ministry.

However, confusion can arise because, with an ever-increasing demand for personal counselling and the lack of affordable counselling services, people may turn to their ordained minister for a form of help which may go well beyond the normal expectations of pastoral care. If the minister engages with areas of experience beyond their competence, the consequences may be damaging for all concerned. Confusion can also occur when terms such as ‘Christian counselling’ and ‘prayer counselling’ are used in the Church. Ministers need to be clear about the difference between these activities and counselling as understood in a secular context. Ministers who are not trained as counsellors should be careful not to confuse their pastoral ministry with that of counselling or psychotherapy.

1.3. Listening and counselling skills

Listening well is fundamental to all good pastoral care. Insights from and training in counselling skills can improve communication and make a valuable contribution to pastoral care. Such training can enhance ministers’ ability to listen at depth and increase their self-awareness and capacity to discern accurately. The insights of the person-centred approach to counselling, emphasizing the value of empathy, warmth, acceptance and genuineness in all helping relationships, can enhance a minister’s ability to offer parishioners an environment in which they can feel heard and understood (Rogers 1979).

1.4. Clergy with counselling training

Those ordained ministers who have a professional training as counsellor or therapist need to reflect carefully upon issues of ethics and good practice before deciding whether or not to add this dimension, with appropriate boundaries and explanation, to the pastoral care they offer in the parish. While ministers who have counselling training to an accredited standard will draw on this in the pastoral care they offer parishioners, they need always to consider carefully what kind of support is being sought or offered and what is appropriate. They should also clarify this with the parishioner seeking help. Otherwise confusion may arise in the minds of both minister and parishioner as to which role the minister is in. The minister should always be clear whether he or she is working with a parishioner as a counsellor and only do so if there has been explicit agreement to this. Both need to be aware of how authority deriving from the ordained minister’s role may affect the counselling relationship (2.3; 2.9). They also need to discuss the implications of establishing a dual relationship (relating to each other in more than one role) and of how a counselling relationship between them might affect their contact in other contexts (3.5). The minister (whether ordained or lay) who is also a trained counsellor should consider carefully whether counselling as currently understood should be carried out within the parish context, or whether it would be more appropriate within a voluntary counselling agency. If a minister also works as counsellor, there are important questions to consider regarding accreditation, supervision and specific ethical requirements (see pp. 32–4).

1.5. Ordained ministry, vocation and profession

The particular calling from God to the ordained priesthood of the Church is expressed in service, intercession and self-giving love. It is a ministry of Word, sacrament and pastoral care, a divine gift enabling the whole Church to exercise its priestly ministry. The vocation to ordained ministry is a free response to the call to commit oneself to love and serve God and so to love and serve others (Gula 1996). This means that ‘the sense that they are engaged in a vocation rather than a career is fundamental to the clergy’s identity and self-understanding’ (Bridger 2003).

Originally, within the context of the religious life, having a vocation and making a profession were inseparable. Even without such religious associations, the link between vocation and profession continued in the ideal of dedicated commitment to serve others, expected in vocational professions such as medicine, nursing or teaching. However, for some the term ‘professional’ now carries negative connotations, implying attitudes of detachment, or of seeking status and financial reward. As a result some clergy may be reluctant to identify their calling with being ‘professional’. Nevertheless, in contemporary society, acting in a professional way continues to bring the expectation of commitment to the acquisition of expert knowledge and skill to be used in dedicated service to others. Identifying ‘vocation’ with being ‘professional’ should therefore be seen as an affirmation of the need for high standards of competence and integrity in ministry and a motivation to work out what this means in practice in all the complexities of our contemporary society (Gula 1996). Increasingly the Church of England is adopting an approach that affirms this expectation of ‘professionalism’, but in attempting to legislate for this, there is the risk that the creative flexibility of ministry could be undermined.

The increasing number of non-stipendiary and ordained local ministers working in a voluntary capacity also raises important questions about the values, duties and responsibilities inherent in regarding ministry as a profession as well as a vocation, even though it may be undertaken on a voluntary basis.

1.6. Covenant relationships

Richard M. Gula (1996), writing in Ethics in Pastoral Ministry, explores the important differences between contract and covenant relationships.

Secular models of professional relationship are increasingly defined by explicit contract, specifying the rights and duties of the parties involved and the service offered. In contrast, what is asked of ministers cannot be worked out in advance and defined by contract. Pastoral care requires flexibility, spontaneity and a readiness to respond to the unexpected. It is rooted in the biblical model of covenant, exemplified by the covenant relationship between God and God’s people. This is a relationship of gracious love in which God, who loves us freely and infinitely, calls us to be generous in our loving service to others. Covenant relationships in pastoral care always take place in the context of the minister’s relationship with God and the Christian community, even though the person receiving pastoral care may not be a member of that community or share faith in God.

The covenant nature of pastoral relationships means that the minister does not prescribe in advance what will be offered. The minister allows his or her ministry to be a response to the specific need of the other person, who entrusts their vulnerability to the minister. The risk for both is that the minister will be tempted to offer a service beyond his or her abilities, or one that is inappropriate or even damaging. A covenant relationship therefore places a heavy responsibility on the minister to develop moral discernment and sensitivity in distinguishing between loving and unloving behaviour in ministerial relationships, and to be self-aware about his or her own limitations. This requires a discipline of prayer and reflection and a willingness to be self-questioning and transparent about motives, needs and vulnerabilities. It is too easy for a minister to delude him- or herself that actions are motivated by love, and to be unaware of deeper and more questionable motives underlying seemingly benevolent acts. Pastoral care must always be directed towards the well-being of the person who seeks help. Even within the flexibility of the covenant relationship the minister’s practice must still be to a professional standard.

1.7. Ordained and lay ministers as exemplars

Ministers, as the public face of both the local congregation and the wider Church, must accept a responsibility to maintain public confidence in the role of the minister and trust in the integrity of the Church. The parish priest and other ministers in public office are never free from the moral and spiritual requirements of office, even when not on duty. All ministers, lay or ordained, are called to be servants on behalf of Jesus Christ, the Servant of all, and their authority is rooted in Christ. The Church therefore rightly expects certain standards of behaviour from its public representatives, who are seen as role models for the Christian life of faith.

Society is rightly critical of people who claim certain standards and then fail to live up to them. Individual failures are also likely to be exploited by some sections of the media, diminishing the credibility and authority of the Church. However, ministers share the frailties common to all human beings. They put themselves and others at great risk if they lose touch with this reality and start to believe that they are somehow different and less susceptible to mistakes and failures. Ministers have to learn how to live in the tension between realism about their vulnerable humanity and acceptance of the often difficult burden of being seen as an example.

At the heart of all effective ministry is the nurturing of discipleship in openness to God, through prayer, Scripture, sacrament and a readiness to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit. No human being can adequately fulfil the model of ministry seen in Jesus. But he is our priest and,

we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb. 4.15–16)

1.8. Accountability in ministry

The concept of accountability is common to management and to Christian ministry, although it may be interpreted differently. A minister is a servant of Christ, who is the head of his body the Church, and a minister’s ultimate accountability is to God. However, at a human level, accountability in ministry is complex, encompassing the person being ministered to and those close to them, colleagues in ministry, the bishop and the wider Church. A sense of accountability to oneself and to one’s family is also crucial. Specifically, ordained ministers are accountable to the Church, through the bishop, whose ministry is properly understood as a shared ministry, and expressed in the licensing or institution charge as ‘both yours and mine’.

1.9. Sacred trust

Ministry is entrusted to us by God. Ministers are called to be trustworthy.

They are often in situations where people are at physical, emotional or spiritual risk and therefore extremely vulnerable. People turn to them when they are at their most vulnerable, at times of joy and celebration, or of profound distress, in the aftermath of traumatic experiences, when facing personal dilemmas or struggling with guilt and remorse. The ordained minister may also have privileged access to places (e.g. prisons and hospitals) and be invited to be present in circumstances where access is normally restricted. It is only through the vital element of trust, the sign of Christ’s compassion entrusted to his Church, that these opportunities for pastoral care to those in great distress are made possible. If this trust is damaged it can affect the wider Church over generations.

Reflection – the pastoral role

 What do you value most about your pastoral role? What opportunities and challenges does it offer that would not be possible for a counsellor?

 How flexible are you in responding to unexpected pastoral opportunities?

 What are your experiences of being listened to accurately and at depth? How well do you listen?

 Do you see ordained ministry as a ‘profession’ and how does this influence your ministry, whether paid or voluntary, ordained or lay?

 What are the tensions between ordained ministry as vocation and contemporary expectations about career development?

 What are the risks and challenges for you of understanding pastoral care as a covenant relationship?

 In which areas of your life do you find it hard to live up to the expectations that you or others have of you as a Christian minister?

1.10. Confidentiality and trust

Confidentiality is crucial to the development of trust in pastoral care. This applies not only to situations where the expectation of confidentiality is clear, but also to the many informal pastoral contacts that ministers have, where they may be given information because of their role and because they are trusted. In a pastoral relationship self-disclosure to the minister makes the person vulnerable, and increases the minister’s power in relation to him or her. Ministers need to be sensitive to the way they hold this power. If the minister keeps firm boundaries around confidentiality this enables the vulnerable person to retain control over their life. Breaches of, or leaks in, confidentiality disempower a person by undermining their ability to control what other people know about them (Gula 1996). Where dual roles and relationships are involved there needs to be particular sensitivity to confidentiality (3.5). For example, if an ordinand is also an employee of the diocese they may feel very vulnerable about information being passed, without their knowledge, between tutors on their training course and diocesan staff. In such circumstances transparency is essential and the complex boundaries of confidentiality should be discussed and mutually agreed from the start.

1.11. Context and confidentiality

Ministers should reflect upon how information received in one setting affects their relationship with a person in other situations. They also need to be very aware of how easy it is, even if unintentionally, to misuse confidential information. This can happen in private conversation with colleagues, lay ministry team members, or friends within the parish community, or even with the person concerned, in a different context.

Explicit clarification on confidentiality and reassurance that on meeting in a different context nothing will be raised, alluded to or, as it were, ‘known’ or ‘remembered’ by the minister, helps people feel safer. Amid many other preoccupations the minister who has received many personal disclosures may find it easy to set aside or forget what has been divulged. It is therefore important for all ministers to remain sensitive to the reality that, for the person who has disclosed personal information, perhaps for the first or only time in their life, the memory of that disclosure will always remain vivid. In consequence, feelings of vulnerability are likely to persist for a very long time after the disclosure was made. The person may therefore be particularly sensitive to any perceived criticism, avoidance or withdrawal on the part of the minister. They may easily and understandably misinterpret behaviour which is, in reality, the result of the minister’s other preoccupations or tiredness.

1.12. Clergy and confidentiality

Information shared in confidence with an ordained person must, in all but the most exceptional circumstances (1.13; 1.16; pp. 34–5), be regarded as confidential and only divulged with the other person’s properly informed consent. Learning when and how to hold confidentiality and when and how to share information is an essential part of ministerial formation. However, confidentiality is particularly complex in pastoral care, because information may be obtained in situations and encounters, such as committee meetings or phone conversations, where it may not be so obvious that there is an expectation of confidentiality.

Training incumbents and curates face particular issues of confidentiality which they need to reflect upon together. Some hold the view that assistant clergy in training posts should normally share with their training incumbent information given to them within a parish pastoral context (Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of Clergy 2003). If this is the agreed policy then parishioners should be made aware of it. Others would say that the curate should always obtain explicit consent before sharing information with their incumbent and respect any refusal.

Being told other people’s secrets can place heavy burdens on the ordained person. Such secrets may involve distressing or disturbing information or may be about experiences of deep spiritual meaning, such as experiences of God, which the person has never dared to share before. All clergy need to learn how to manage the spiritual, emotional and psychological demands which this responsibility to hold confidential information will make on them during the course of their ministry. Clergy who have a ministerial consultant or supervisor, with whom they can share some aspects of their pastoral ministry, may be at less risk of inappropriate and potentially damaging ‘leaks’ of confidential information which they are finding it difficult to hold safely. However, ministers who have such support still need to adopt safeguards to protect confidentiality. These may include:

 informing the person they are pastoring that they have a ministerial supervisor or consultant with whom they sometimes share information about their ministry

 seeking the person’s permission to share in this way, if they might perceive it to be jeopardizing confidentiality

 choosing a supervisor or consultant who has sufficient distance from the minister’s pastoral work not to be able to identify whom they are talking about

 disguising names and other details that might reveal the person’s identity.

Ministers also need to bear in mind that the Church at both local and national level is a comparatively small community, where relationship networks can easily jeopardize confidentiality, and individuals and their circumstances may be identifiable, even when names are not used. Information divulged under the ‘seal of the confessional’ cannot be shared with a ministerial supervisor, although it may be possible to discuss underlying issues and principles, but without any reference to the person concerned.

Unless explicit permission has been given, clergy and others involved in pastoral ministry should not share confidential information with their spouses, family or friends. They should also treat information shared among colleagues as confidential (Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of Clergy 2003).

1.13. Confession

Canon law imposes an obligation upon the priest not to break ‘the seal of the confessional’. A priest who discloses matters revealed in the course of formal confession commits an ecclesiastical offence (except possibly in matters of treason) under the unrepealed Canon 113 of 1603 (Leeder 1999).

There can be no disclosure of what is confessed to a priest. This principle holds even after the death of the penitent. The priest may not refer to what has been learnt in confession, even to the penitent, unless explicitly permitted. Some appropriate act of contrition and reparation may be necessary before absolution is given. (Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy 2003)

If a crime or offence is revealed in the particular context of formal confession, the seal of the confessional applies. However, the priest should urge the person to report his or her behaviour to the police or social services and may decide to withhold absolution until they have demonstrated this evidence of repentance (House of Bishops 2004).

It is unclear how far secular courts would consider communication within confession privileged from the requirement to give evidence in court. The weight of current opinion seems to be that confessions made to a minister of religion are not privileged from such disclosure although, in practice, it would seem that the courts respect the tradition of absolute confidentiality (Hill 2001).

If a priest were summoned to give evidence in court and the court held that, despite Canon 113, the priest was not entitled to refuse to answer questions, the Legal Advisory Commission Opinion is that an ecclesiastical offence would not be committed, if the priest then revealed information. However, any priest summoned to give evidence on information received under Canon 113 should seek legal advice. Under the Act of Terrorism 2000 it is unlikely that Canon 113 would be accepted as a defence against the legal requirement to disclose information concerning terrorism (Legal Advisory Commission, forthcoming 2007).

Canon law does not apply to informal pastoral conversations. Therefore confessions should normally be heard at advertised times or in a context which makes a clear distinction between formal confession and ‘a general pastoral conversation or a meeting for spiritual direction’ (House of Bishops 2004).

Clergy should be aware that there are authorized forms for confession and absolution, in addition to those found in the Book of Common Prayer Visitation of the Sick Service, and that hearing confessions should not be undertaken without specific training and preparation. The authorized Christian Initiation Services also include provision for individual and private penitence, which would constitute formal confession as covered by canon law.

Clarity about confidentiality is essential in those traditions of the Church where formal confession and absolution are not used. For example, the person who shares their story with an ordained person in informal conversation may mistakenly expect the absolute confidentiality offered within the ministry of confession and absolution. However, in this situation confidentiality does not have the protection of canon law.

1.14. Lay ministers and confidentiality

The development of collaborative ministry and ministry teams has brought increasing opportunities for lay ministers to become aware of confidential information. Those sharing pastoral ministry with the incumbent need to have a clear understanding of the requirements of confidentiality. They should not offer absolute confidentiality and need to be aware of and explicit about their responsibility to seek advice, guidance and support. They should seek guidance when faced with ethical dilemmas regarding confidentiality, individuals at risk and the law. If there are allegations of abuse of children or vulnerable adults they should always seek advice from those in the parish or diocese who are responsible for child and adult protection.

1.15. Confidentiality in shared ministry

Where ministry is shared, best practice may be difficult to define. Some professionals, particularly those who are part of a team, take confidentiality to include the right to share with professional colleagues, who may also be working with the person. Members of ministry teams need to discuss their understanding of confidentiality with one another and to make known their policy and practice. While it is important to safeguard the right of parishioners to share personal information with one minister and not another, in a team situation it may be advisable to create an explicit policy of corporate confidentiality. This will protect against the possibility of members of a ministry team being manipulated or divided by the sharing of personal information with one and not another (Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of Clergy 2003). Such a policy must, of course, exclude information divulged to an ordained minister in sacramental confession.

Although views and practice may vary, increasingly the expectation is that boundaries of confidentiality should be made explicit and that information will be shared only on a need-to-know basis. The risk of not being explicit about any limits on confidentiality is that the minister may subsequently share information with someone whom the other person regards as inappropriate. This may then be experienced as an extremely damaging breach of trust.

1.16. Confidentiality and conflict of interest

There is not, at present, any mandatory responsibility to disclose information about suspected child abuse to statutory agencies, but there is increasing recognition of a moral responsibility to do so where a child may be at risk of serious harm. Clergy and others, including churchwardens, who hold public office may feel a particular burden of responsibility and find themselves facing complex issues and potential conflicts of interest. This section draws substantially on Protecting All God’s Children (House of Bishops 2004), which provides a great deal of helpful guidance on issues of confidentiality and is an important resource for ministers.

The Human Rights Act 1998 protects the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence. A public authority (which could be an ordained minister) has to have lawful and necessary justification for interfering with this right. The potential harm from not reporting allegations of abuse is likely to be relevant to decisions about what is justified interference. Entitlement to confidentiality is also recognized in law, where information is accepted in confidence, or the nature of the relationship (as between doctor and patient or priest and parishioner) creates a presumption of confidentiality. The law also recognizes that, on rare occasions, other considerations may lead to a professionally responsible decision to breach confidentiality. If there is a risk of harm, either to the person concerned or to others, particularly to vulnerable adults or to children, ministers may consider it their duty to break a confidence. In such instances they will have to decide carefully how to proceed and what the risks are, and should seek advice from the appropriate diocesan adviser. They should not attempt to investigate the situation themselves, nor speak directly to any person against whom allegations have been made.

Children or adults who disclose significant harm need to know that such information will have to be passed to the statutory agency, usually social services, so that it can be properly investigated and further abuse prevented. This will also be necessary where significant harm is suspected. It may not be necessary when an adult discloses historical abuse, unless the alleged abuser is still working with or caring for children, in which case the authorities must be informed. If there is a conflict of interest between a child’s need for protection and the needs of an adult, the welfare of the child is paramount.

However, in all but the most exceptional circumstances, good practice requires informing and, wherever possible, obtaining permission, before divulging confidential information to the statutory authorities. If at all possible the person concerned should be encouraged and enabled to make the disclosure themselves.

On rare occasions it may be necessary to inform a person of the disclosure retrospectively. In matters of child protection, or other criminal activity, there may be a risk that, if an alleged perpetrator is pre-warned, they will have the opportunity to destroy evidence or threaten the child or other persons who are at risk. In some very exceptional circumstances it may therefore be necessary to go ahead with disclosure, neither obtaining permission nor informing the person that disclosure has taken place. Ministers should be aware that there is a legal requirement to disclose information where acts of terrorism are concerned (1.13).

All ministers will benefit from careful consideration of the ethical issues involved before such acutely difficult pastoral situations arise. Ministers also need to be aware of and observe national and diocesan guidelines and requirements regarding protection of children and vulnerable adults, and should know how to contact the appropriate diocesan child protection adviser for help and advice. When faced with specific legal concerns, clergy should seek advice from the diocesan registrar or diocesan child protection adviser. Social services and the police can also be approached for guidance without the need to divulge names (see pp. 34–5).

Reflection – confidentiality

 How have you felt when divulging sensitive personal information about yourself to a professional person (for example GP, counsellor or minister)? How did you feel about meeting them again, particularly if this was in another context?

 Are there occasions when you find it difficult to hold confidentiality and, if so, what might be the reasons?

 How do you make boundaries of confidentiality clear to those to whom you offer pastoral care?

 How do you distinguish between information shared with you in friendship and information shared with you as a minister?

 How do you safeguard other people’s confidentiality when seeking ministerial advice and support for yourself?

 How would you respond and what action might you take in the following circumstances? What factors would affect your decision?

– a parishioner discloses that child abuse has taken place in the past, or is currently being perpetrated within their family

– an allegation of child abuse is made against a parishioner or colleague

– a child or young person discloses that they have been or are being abused, but does not want their parents, social services or police to be informed

– a parishioner or colleague tells you that they have abused, or are currently abusing, a child or young person

1.17. Pastoral records

When paper or electronic records are kept the obvious danger is of someone inappropriate gaining access to information, or of its being used in some other context. Clergy should be aware of how the Data Protection Act 1998 applies to pastoral and parish records. Among other things the Act requires that records should not include information about individuals without their consent. Information should be accurate and relevant to its purpose, kept up to date, stored securely and not held longer than necessary. ‘Information about an individual’s sexual life or the commission or alleged commission of an offence’ should not be disclosed to a third party, without the person’s explicit consent, except ‘in the interests of detecting or preventing crime or when seeking legal advice’. Information identifying a third party (e.g. a victim or informant) should not be disclosed without consent, ‘unless disclosure is reasonable in all the circumstances’ (House of Bishops 2004).

 If ministers keep notes of pastoral encounters as a reminder to themselves, these should not be identifiable by another person, should be kept securely and destroyed at the earliest opportunity.

 In some circumstances, where there are allegations of abuse, conflict of interest or disciplinary matters, it will be necessary to keep a signed and dated record of events. (For example, a person who is being bullied or abused may need to keep a record of what has been said, in order to seek protection or redress; a minister who has received a disclosure of abuse should keep an accurate written record.) Such records should be made as soon as possible after the event, kept securely and in a way that protects confidentiality.

 Written references should be stored securely.

 Particular care should be taken to safeguard confidentiality when transmitting information electronically.

 Only in exceptional circumstances should personal information be passed on to a colleague or successor and again, only in exceptional circumstances should this be without the consent of the person concerned. Appropriate advice should be sought, for example from the diocesan adviser for child protection and/or from the diocesan registrar before doing so.

 Provision should be made for the appropriate safeguarding or destruction of confidential material in the event of the minsiter’s sudden incapacitating illness, accident or death.

1.18. Telephone answering machines and services

It is important to be clear about who has access to answering machines and who may be present in the room when messages are being recorded or played back. The outgoing message should indicate whether the phone is only for church business or whether it is also for family messages. Answering services which do not identify the recipient’s name or number can discourage someone from leaving a message. A message recorded by the minister will always be more welcoming for those who are anxious or in distress than an impersonal recorded voice. A personally recorded message is also a safeguard against someone misdialling and leaving a message on the wrong machine or answering service. Similar safeguards are necessary regarding access to mobile phone, computer and e-mail.

1.19. Preaching, prayer and confidentiality

Ministers also need to be aware that, even when a story is disguised to make it anonymous, for example in preaching, there may still be a real risk of recognition and identification (or misidentification, which can be as damaging), leading to the undermining of trust. Particular care should be taken to seek permission before telling someone else’s story, even in disguised form. People’s names should not be included in public intercessions or parish publications unless they have given explicit permission.

Professional Counselling

As a specific professional activity, developed in the late twentieth century, counselling is defined as taking place when the counsellor (whether working in a voluntary or paid capacity) reaches an explicit agreement with the person in the role of client, to provide a confidential setting within which he or she can feel safe enough to share difficulties, pain, confusion or despair, in a way which may not be possible with friends or family. Counselling sessions take place away from the client’s home, at intervals and for a length of time agreed between counsellor and client. Maintaining and safeguarding the boundaries of time and place are the counsellor’s responsibility, and are important in creating a safe and peaceful environment in which the client can explore his or her difficulties. Counselling may involve only two or three sessions or continue over a period of months or years.

In this country there is, at present, no clear distinction between counselling and psychotherapy. Differences relate more to how far the individual psychotherapist or counsellor’s training, supervision, skill, self-awareness and experience enable them to work at the emotional and psychological depth appropriate to each individual client.

Relationship

The relationship between the client and the counsellor is an essential part of the process and the complex feelings evoked within this relationship may require sensitive exploration. As trust is built up, the counsellor will encourage the client to look at aspects of his or her life, relationships and self, which he or she may not have considered or felt able to face before. There may be exploration of early relationships, to discover how the client came to react to certain people or situations in ways that contribute to his or her difficulties. Whatever theoretical approaches the counsellor uses, the ultimate aim is the autonomy of the client: for the client to make his or her own choices and decisions and to put them into effect.

Supervision

Exploration of difficult feelings and relationships makes heavy demands on both client and counsellor, and an essential part of any counsellor’s training is the development of their self-understanding and self-awareness. In order to be empathic, without becoming over-involved, the counsellor needs to be able to recognize when the client’s experience is touching difficulties in their own experience, past or present. They need to develop a heightened capacity to monitor their own inner process, and to be able to recognize and work with the complexity of interpersonal issues which can arise in an ‘in-depth’ helping relationship, particularly one which continues over an extended period. Regular supervision, in which the counsellor discusses their work and their own feelings and responses in relation to their client, in a confidential setting, is a professional requirement.

Training

A counsellor is someone whose basic skills and attitudes have been specially developed through training, personal therapy and ongoing supervision. It is crucial for clergy to be clear that, if they feel called to engage in ongoing counselling relationships in which deep and intense feelings may arise, then they too require the training in self-awareness and the levels of support which the counselling profession has come to recognize as essential.

Payment

Originally counselling in this country was offered as a service by trained volunteers operating within voluntary agencies which did not charge. Although a limited amount of counselling and psychotherapy is still provided free of charge through the National Health Service and through employee-assistance programmes, voluntary agencies usually invite a donation according to ability to pay and most counselling is now provided by counsellors and therapists in private practice. Payment clearly makes a difference to the relationship between counsellor and the person receiving counselling and would be inappropriate in a relationship of pastoral care.

Government guidance on conFIdentiality in child protection:

The law recognizes that disclosure of confidential information without consent or a court order may be justified in the public interest to prevent harm to others. The key factor in deciding whether to disclose confidential information is proportionality: is the proposed disclosure a proportionate response to the need to protect the welfare of the child? The amount of confidential information disclosed, and the number of people to whom it is disclosed, should be no more than is strictly necessary to meet the public interest in protecting the health and well being of a child. The more sensitive the information is, the greater the child-focused need must be to justify disclosure and the greater the need to ensure that only those professionals who have to be informed receive the material. (Department of Health 2003)

If someone believes that a child may be suffering, or be at risk of suffering significant harm, then s/he should always refer his or her concerns to the local authority social services department … While professionals (and others) should seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the family and, where possible, seek their agreement to making referrals to social services, this should only be done where such discussion and agreement-seeking will not place a child at increased risk of significant harm. (Department of Health 1999)