Dear Bethel Sydney Family,
In light of recent events within the wider Body of Christ,
namely the revelation of Shawn Bolz’s sin and the associated failures in biblical accountability and shepherding, we feel it is important to pause and reaffirm our convictions and responsibilities as leaders. We do so with humility, recognising the weight of leadership and the sacred trust God places on those who shepherd His people.
As Senior Leaders of Bethel Sydney, we want to make the following commitments clear to our church family:
Our Commitment
Shepherding & Safety
We recognise our calling as shepherds, and therefore the protection, safety, and care of those we lead is of utmost importance to us.
Holiness & the Fear of the Lord
We are committed to holiness and living with the fear of the Lord. Sin is sin. No level of gifting, influence, or apparent spiritual power excuses a life that does not privately and publicly reflect the righteousness we see in Jesus.
Biblical Confrontation with Love & Truth
We will not avoid biblical confrontation. We are committed to having hard conversations with honesty, courage, and love, even when it is uncomfortable or costly.
Accountable Leadership
We refuse to become untouchable leaders. We will remain intentionally connected and accountable to spiritual fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters - people who have permission to speak truth into our lives. We will never allow our environment to become one where leadership is above accountability.
A Life that Pleases the Lord
We will continually invite the Lord to teach us how to live in ways that please Him, not people, platforms, or influence. We ask Him to form in us clean hearts and to convict us of anything that grieves or quenches His Spirit.
We understand that this is a tender moment for many people, and we want to make ourselves available for pastoral support and care for those that would need that. If you feel like you need to talk to someone, have questions or need some pastoral care through this, you can email us at info@bethelsydney.com.
We would like to advise that we have the following safeguards in place to ensure a healthy and safe environment at Bethel Sydney:
- The Bethel Sydney Safeguarding Policy: Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults (42 page document)
- Our legal firm has formulated and guided our sexual harassment policy, whistle blower policy, grievance handling policy, in addition to a raft of other policies
- We have a rigorous incident-reporting policy
- Bethel Sydney has a safeguarding team of industry experts that are separate from the Bethel Sydney senior leadership and core team
Our plan is the use our upcoming Annual General Meeting in the coming months following our church launch to communicate these policies. We will continue to add to, refine and communicate our rigorous safeguarding mechanisms to ensure we have are a safe environment for our congregation.
Our team would be honoured to walk with you.
With Love,
Matt and Elisabeth King