Beleaguered Ontario church unable to renew liability policies

An Ontario church that faced allegations of sexual abuse has been unable to renew its abuse liability and employment practices liability insurance policies, effectively forcing it to pause all programmed services.

Based in Oakville, Ont., The Meeting House says on its website that, “despite the tremendous effort of all involved, we have not been offered any options for abuse liability or employment practices liability coverage in advance of our June 30 renewal date.” The church has been able to renew all other types of insurance, such as property and directors’ and officers’ insurance, with its current insurer.

The church did not identify its insurer.

CU reached out to Ecclesiastical Insurance, which provides coverage for faith-based organizations. Ecclesiastical tells CU it has not been the church’s insurer for about 16 years and, as such, has “no comments to make on this unfortunate situation.”

More generally, on its U.K. website, Ecclesiastical says claims made against organizations it insures involving physical and sexual abuse (PSA) are typically insured under public liability policies. “In practice, handling PSA claims made against the organizations we insure is a small fraction of the overall claims we handle,” Ecclesiastical says. “Claims involving PSA represented just 0.5% of all the claims we handled in 2022.”

In a note from the church’s transition board and network leadership team, The Meeting House confirms: “In light of our history, we have not been able to secure some elements of the insurance that we require to operate [the] normal ministry beyond June 30…As a result, we are moving forward with our stated plan to pause all programmed ministry at The Meeting House, including Sunday and mid-week gatherings, kids and youth programming, pastoral counselling, and home church (online and in person) as of 12:01 a.m., June 30.”

Every Sunday, the church will provide curated teaching and worship through its YouTube channel, as well as a mid-week devotional on its podcast channels.

The church also acknowledged “the beauty and pain of our church history continue to impact us in many ways, including in our relationships with key stakeholders such as insurers.

“Over the last few years, we have taken significant steps to address systemic risk and create a safe environment for staff, volunteers, and congregants,” the church says. “This work has received positive feedback from insurers and experts who believe our actions have been particularly rigorous and effective, and that our abuse prevention framework is now first-rate among churches.”

Looking to the future, The Meeting House says it is exploring its options in partnership with local churches.

“We will no doubt have updates to share as we explore possibilities and plan next steps for our future in the coming weeks and through the summer,” the church says. “We plan to communicate as widely as possible with relevant updates in the month of July, including through our pastors and transition board representatives to our local communities.”

 

Feature image by iStock.com/ ChristianChan