News

Update from Arise Board regarding Pathfinding
2023-01-17

We are sorry that Charlotte Cummings of Pathfinding has had to deal with legal issues as a result of the report she completed at the request of Arise Church.

When Pathfinding was engaged, we committed to release the report publicly, and at no stage did any current board member or current senior leadership attempt to block its publication. We have received the Pathfinding Report and included it in our thorough process through the Review Advisory Committee (RAC). We have already begun implementing a number of the recommendations in that report and await the findings of the RAC for further implementation. We appreciate the work that was put in to producing the report.

However we could not stop any former staff members or individuals – acting in a personal capacity and not on behalf of Arise Church - from using legal avenues against the report’s publication.

During this process the board of Arise argued for the publication of the report, as we believe that transparency is essential to building trust as we move forward. Given these were employment matters we had to abide by the legal process.

We hope this clarifies.

Arise Church has paid Pathfinding’s agreed costs in full, and we do not know the full details of any current legal proceedings against Charlotte Cummings, or what advice her legal fees relate to. Any ongoing legal matters do not involve Arise Church, and we cannot prevent others from acting in a personal capacity. However we are reaching out to Charlotte to discuss her situation and whether there is anything we can do to assist.

Arise Church is fully committed to our current journey of health, reconciliation, and growth as outlined in our Review Roadmap.