23 April 2023

This is an open letter to those affected by historical sexual abuse in the Wellington Christadelphian Ecclesia.

Dear friend,

We are writing to you because you were part of the Wellington Christadelphian community some years back.  We wish to express our sorrow at the abhorrent actions that happened within our community, the impact they had on your life and particularly the way things were handled.

After incidences of sexual abuse were exposed and dealt with by the Police, it was recognised that the Ecclesia did not have the knowledge or systems and processes to manage the horror that unfolded.  This is not the case with the Wellington Ecclesia now as we have since developed a Child Safety Policy to both identify issues quickly and also to reduce the likelihood of this happening again. We know we still have more to do and are currently reviewing this Policy.

We are reaching out to express our acknowledgement and regret for what happened in our past.  What happened was wrong and no child or young person should have been exposed to what you faced then. It was not your fault.  We want to also acknowledge that the way the matters were handled once issues were exposed, did not have the needs and well-being of the victims at its centre. 

What we regret most is that the Ecclesia did not provide care and support to the people who suffered as a result of the abuse that you were subject to. You were not at the centre of our response.  We acknowledge that it took nearly six years before counsellors came into our community.  You deserved personal support a long time before this.  We have learnt from this and perish the thought, if something like this were to happen again, we will seek to put those suffering at the centre of our response.

While we can’t change the past, we have learnt from it and hope to keep learning.

This letter should have been written years ago.  We hope in a small way this acknowledgement will help you lift or ease a burden you have carried. 

If we can help in any way, please let us know.

We are happy for you to share this letter with others you feel may benefit from receiving it.

Sincerely,

The Wellington Arranging Brethren.

Aaron Middlemiss, Russell Beaumont, Phil Green, Billy Phillips, Ken Morgan, Zak Read