Domestic violence report group appointed

Following a resolution by the LCANZ’s General Church Board (GCB), the Religion and Domestic Violence Report Response Group (RDVRRG) has been appointed by the church.

The short-term volunteer group’s primary role will be to collate responses to the Religion and Domestic Violence Report and to present recommendations to GCB. The group’s work is to be completed before the 2024 Convention of General Synod.

The Religion and Domestic Violence Report was commissioned by the church in 2019 and released last year. Funded by an Australian Research Council grant, it is the result of professional research done to help church leaders understand the core issues and address domestic and family violence in the LCANZ, and in the wider community. Members of the RDVRRG are former Lutheran Church of New Zealand bishop, Pastor Mark Whitfield, lay members Suzanne Jessen, Tanya Wittwer and Helen Lockwood, and Pastor James Winderlich. LCANZ Bishop Paul Smith is an ex-officio member of the group, which first met late last month.

The group will soon call for responses to the report from church members, before preparing recommendations for matters to be addressed based on the report and responses received. It will provide these recommendations to the College of Bishops before making a final submission to GCB. For more information and to read or download the report, visit the Religion and Domestic Violence Report webpage at www.lca.org.au/rdvr