Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

To: Dr. Eckleburg
Here's something interesting I found on the Q & A section of the OPC website:

Question and Answer

Confidentiality guidelines for elder visits

Question:

Are matters that members share with elders on home visits confidential? Do elders report to the Session what has been shared with them? Do you have guidelines on confidentiality when elders do home visits?

Answer:

This is a very good question. The Session on which I serve follows this general rule: If it is information that is necessary to provide oversight of a member's soul, it is going to be shared with the rest of the Session unless there is good reason not to.

With regard to your elders, it might depend upon whether or not you asked them not to repeat what is told to them. For the most part the elders have come to see how you are doing spiritually and are not interested in gossip.

But there are times when matters discussed are of importance to the church and perhaps to your soul. For example, if you say you intend to become a Muslim, or you intend to murder a neighbor, or you are angry with the pastor, such information needs to be given to the rest of the session (or in the last example, the pastor needs to know, don't you think?). On the other hand, that you struggle with your faith, or you wish you had spent more time in the last year reading your Bible, or are not sure how to share your faith, those things are not likely to be made a major item of discussion. Do you see the difference?

Your best option, though, is to ask the elders up front what your Session's policy is. And if you are going to tell them something you want kept private, just ask them to keep it confidential. On the whole the best guidelines are found in Ephesians 4:29.

If someone confides that they are going to murder their neighbor, why wouldn't the elders go straight to the police?

1,860 posted on 04/26/2010 2:10:34 AM PDT by Judith Anne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1850 | View Replies ]


Oh, and here’s the link:

http://www.opc.org/qa.html?question_id=369


1,861 posted on 04/26/2010 2:16:36 AM PDT by Judith Anne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1860 | View Replies ]

To: Judith Anne
Your excerpt from the OPC does not say they wouldn't go to the police. The excerpt offers excellent advice. It says that any "elder confidentiality" does not preclude going outside that relationship if whatever has been confided is something like a plot to murder someone.

This is in direct opposition to the Roman Catholic confessional where a priest, peculiarly, is forbidden to tell anyone about a possible murder plot he hears in the toll...er...confessional booth.

The more Roman Catholics apologists highlight the differences between the RCC and the OPC, the more the OPC is shown to be Biblical while the RCC is revealed to be not-so-much.

1,981 posted on 04/26/2010 11:59:36 AM PDT by Dr. Eckleburg ("I don't think they want my respect; I think they want my submission." - Flemming Rose)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1860 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson