• Contacting the person’s parole/probation officer and others involved in his/her treatment. Informing key people in the congregation. • Identifying designated “accountability partners” who will be a shepherd- ing presence. • Developing a signed covenant with the person (samples included).
Policy and Covenant for Congregations: Safe Church Practices for Welcoming Registered Sex Offenders. Re- viewed by the Executive Board of The Diocese of Virginia Sex Offender Policy and Attendance Contract - Sum- mit-Church-Sex-Offender-Policy_2019.pdf
SCAN QR WITH YOUR PHONE TO VIEW PDF
Taking it even a step further. The following link is to promising recent re- search conducted by criminologists on the role of trained volunteers (often from churches) formed into “Circles of Support and Accountability” (CoSA) have proven to aid in desistance from sexual offending. Richards, Kelly. Desistance from Sexual Offending: The Role of Circles of Support and Accountability . New Yor: Routledge, 2022.
Appendix D. Six Thinking Hats What is Six Thinking Hats? Edward de Bono developed the Six Thinking Hats approach to group decision-making with two main purposes. The first is to simplify thinking by allowing the group to deal with one thing at a time. In- stead of having to take care of emotions, logic, information, hope, and creativ- ity all at the same time, all these aspects of thinking are dealt with separately and sequentially. The second main purpose is to allow a switch in thinking. The concept of the hats makes it possible to request certain types of thinking as part of a broader thinking process. Instead of wasting time in argument or
[ 66 ]
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software