Safe-Guarding, Not Self-Guarding, Must Be PCI’s Future Vision

Dr John Coulter ✍ Last week’s Special General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) in Belfast to update ministers and elders on the safe-guarding crisis which has enveloped the denomination became a soundbite paradise for anyone either reporting on it, or making notes for their congregations.

As a Presbyterian minister’s son and PCI communicant member myself, while phrases such as ‘ecclesiastical earthquake’ and the Church is ‘in trouble, make no mistake about it’, were earth-shattering enough, it was a remark by Rev David Bruce, a retired minister and convenor of PCI’s general council, which - for me personally - stuck out the most.

Mr Bruce said:

The church must be under no illusions that things will be said to us concerning our past and current practice in areas extending beyond safe-guarding and I have absolutely no doubt that this will be challenging for us to hear.

It was the word ‘past’ which hit me like a bombshell. While the current safe-guarding crisis relates to allegations from a period in the new millennium, could historical allegations dating back generations into the past 20th century now surface in the coming weeks and months?

Look at how the Catholic Church has been hammered over the years concerning allegations and cases of clerical sex abuse. Could a similar historical crisis now be facing PCI over safe-guarding?

One thing PCI cannot do in regard to any historical allegations which may surface is sweep them behind the pulpit under the excuse that many of those involved are now dead, so what’s the point in opening old sores and wounds?

When it comes to safe-guarding issues, PCI must not hide behind the Old Testament text of Isaiah Chapter 43 and verse 18: “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.” (King James Version) In short, PCI must never adopt the view - let the past be the past and let us bury it completely and forget about it!

I recall my own upbringing as a PCI minister’s son in the north Antrim hills in the Seventies. Safe-guarding was a non-existent term for me; it was all about self-guarding.

As a young teenage born again Christian, I had at one time a theologically liberal elder for a Sunday school teacher. I learned nothing spiritually from his classes - except that I could be made an example of for being the preacher’s kid.

To lift the boredom of his class, myself and my fellow classmates would have a bit of craic. This elder was known for his short fuse and eventually he’d had enough of us misbehaving.

Rather than tell us to behave, his way of doing it was to punch me in the face in front of my chums, reducing me to tears. There is the problem we can look at this incident in the 1970s though 2026 eyes; imagine if a Presbyterian elder punched a teenager in a Sunday school class nowadays? Think of the legal action that would follow.

However, we must remember that in the Seventies, corporal punishment was still legal in Northern Ireland schools - and that also applied to Sunday schools. That liberal elder is now dead. I suppose if he was still alive, he’d be using the excuse that he needed to maintain discipline in his class and a good punch to the face of the preacher’s kid was one way of doing that.

No action was ever taken against that elder for the punch. Whilst I remain a born again Christian, I wonder how many other young folk have been put off church, and PCI in particular, and the Christian faith generally because of experiences they’ve had in a place of worship?

For me in the late Seventies, self-guarding became the key term in PCI. A particular thug in the community, known for his bullying, began to target me simply because I was the minister’s son.

What many of my chums took for granted - namely, walking from their parents’ cars to the church pew - I had to plan very carefully to avoid getting a beating from this thug. A number of my peers warned me about this thug.

I used to hide out in my dad’s minister’s room on Sunday mornings, then rush in to the church hall for the opening devotions before Sunday school and Bible class began. I kept this routine up for a number of months. Thankfully, nothing happened.

So one Sunday in the latter part of the year, I felt the coast was clear and I abandoned by routine and took my seat as usual in the church hall. I didn’t see the thug come up behind me. He landed - either by accident or by design - a well-placed kick into my lower back on the left-hand side. The pain was excruciating.

I managed to walk back to dad’s minister’s room where I collapsed on the carpet. I didn’t want a doctor called or to go to the then Ballymena Waveney Hospital as that would have given the thug the satisfaction of knowing how badly he had injured me.

This event happened around half a century ago. At first reading of this, you might conclude - you need to man up Coulter and remember Isaiah 43:18.

I wish I could, but twice a day, even now in my late sixties, I still have to take the medication as a result of that attack. It was a secret I managed to keep from that community until after both my parents passed away.

But as I take my pills for that injury, I wonder how many other folk over the years had to keep it a secret about their experiences either when safe-guarding failed, or when safe-guarding simply did not exist.

At least as a working journalist, I have a voice. I can write about my experiences. Many have chosen to remain silent. But for their own peace of mind, they need to come forward and share their experiences, current or historical.

There has been much talk in Northern Ireland about legacy issues and dealing with the past. For PCI, the past must never remain buried when it comes to safe-guarding and other issues. Now is the time for total transparency, no matter how bitter the medicine to swallow.

Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter
John is a Director for Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM.