It’s clear that one of the problems churches increasingly face is related to complaints or grievances.
A complaint is a claim that someone has been treated unfairly, unsatisfactorily, inappropriately, or that they are dissatisfied in some way with their treatment. These are matters that don’t meet the threshold for reporting to the authorities (i.e. they are not illegal), but they still need to be taken seriously, and handled properly with openness and transparency.
The template policy you can download below is designed to support FIEC churches to respond well when handling a complaint.
There may be matters which are initially raised as a complaint which, following initial investigation, need to be dealt with following other policies or procedures. That is particularly the case for safeguarding concerns or allegations and staff / volunteers whistleblowing or raising grievances.
FIEC is a Fellowship of self-governing independent churches. FIEC is not a denomination that exercises any central control over churches; our churches are joined together with a common identity and purpose. The practice of fellowship means we work together for the advance of the gospel. Churches affiliated to FIEC are independent organisations, having their own governance arrangements and they are not accountable to FIEC. In practice this means:
- FIEC has no jurisdiction over local church arrangements.
- FIEC may be able to provide advice and support but is unable to take on a judicial role when dealing with complaints.
- FIEC can, under certain conditions where both church and the complainant agree, provide mediation support. Details can be found in this document: FIEC & Mediation in Churches (PDF download)
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