At the last Diocesan Convention, it was resolved that Bishop Beckwith appoint a task force to develop a policy to address the bullying, harassment and abuse of clergy by lay persons. Bishop Beckwith has created the Dignity at Work Task Force which is comprised of clergy and lay persons and is co-chaired by the Rev. Deacon Chris McCloud and Dr. Ed Acevedo.
Our committee has met twice and has created a working and evolving definition of bullying which is:
“Bullying is an aggressive, intentional behavior that is most often repeated and involves an imbalance of power that creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.”
In an effort to gain further insight into the issue of bullying of clergy by lay persons, we are inviting any clergy person who feels they have been bullied to either:
- Answer a couple of questions anonymously about a bullying incident experienced or;
- Participate in an interview with either the Rev. Susan Chrystal or the Rev. Jim Warnke, members of the Task Force. All interviews will be confidential; your identity will not be disclosed, and generalities only will be reported back to the Task Force.
If you are interested in participating in an interview, please contact the Rev. Susan Chrystal at: spchrystal@gmail.com or the Rev. Jim Warnke at jwarnke@optonline.com by May 30, 2014 to schedule a mutually convenient time.
If you are interested in answering a couple of questions anonymously, please cut and paste the following questions onto a word document and mail by May 30, 2014 to:
Deacon Chris McCloud
P.O. Box 510
Maplewood, NJ 07040
- Please describe the situation/bullying incident.
- How did you handle it?
- What could have helped you in dealing with this bullying incident?
- Have you ever witnessed bullying of other clergy?
- Is there anything else you would like to share about this topic?
Sincerely,
The Dignity at Work Task Force, Diocese of Newark
