The Center for Leadership Development (CLD) provides support for the Bishop, District Superintendents, clergy and congregations of the North Texas Conference in the midst of crisis or conflict. Congregational Assessment, Response and Transformation (CART) Teams are equipped to assist District Superintendents, clergy and congregations move through the difficult work of grief, anger, mistrust, loss and change. The CLD has the responsibility to provide skilled teams of clergy and laity to engage in the work of healing, reconciliation and transformation within congregations.
CART - Crisis Response and Care Team
The Crisis Team members are gifted in assessing and responding to crisis situations in congregations that may include loss of life or property due to accident or natural disaster, alleged dishonesty or illegal activities or sexual misconduct by church leadership.
Its purpose is:
- To provide a group of trained laity and clergy who help facilitate healing to all involved: aggrieved, alleged perpetrator and the congregation. If the crisis has occurred as a result of a betrayal of trust, the experience of other conferences has taught us, that healing of the congregation cannot occur until the matter has been addressed with as many facts shared as is appropriate and the healing process intentionally engaged.
- To provide informational and educational resources (see below) to the laity and clergy of the North Texas Conference by distributing information about Conference policies on sexual misconduct and other breeches of trust by offering training about those policies to the lay leadership within the local churches and to the clergy in the Conference.
- To provide Resource Persons (lay persons with special training) to the aggrieved and other affected persons to aid them in understanding Conference policies and procedures in an effort to guide them through the process of reporting clergy sexual, financial or other misconduct, thereby offering emotional and spiritual support. For a confidential conversation, call Margaret Nicholson at 214-450-7457.
For more information regarding the use of CART teams, email Liz Greenwell or call 972-526-5040.
CART - Conflict Team
The Conflict Team members are gifted in assessing and responding to conflict situations in congregations that may include: a breakdown in communication within the system, discontent with leadership, and unresolved anxiety and tension. The Conflict Team may be deployed at the request of the Bishop, DS or Pastor. A conflict assessment will be provided by a professional mediator at no charge to the congregation. Resources are deployed in clergy/laity teams as needed and according to an agreed upon plan.
Its purpose is:
- To provide a group of trained laity and clergy to help facilitate reconciliation and transformation in the congregation through interpersonal peacemaking strategies.
- To provide informational and educational resources to the laity and clergy of the North Texas Conference by offering training to equip congregations to effectively handle conflict through effective communication skills, resolving interpersonal disagreements and acquiring mediation skills.
For more information regarding the use of CART teams contact Rev. Cammy Gaston.
Crisis Response and Care Brochure | How to Report an Incident |
Clergy Help and Information | Incident Report Template |
COVID-19 Resources | Polices and Procedures |
Filing a Complaint | Sexual Ethics Policy |
More Resources
Clergy Sexual Misconduct: What You Should Know
Lo que debes saber acerca de la conducta sexual inapropiada (en Español)
Common Terms and Definitions Used in the United Methodist Church
Definitions of UMC Chargeable Offenses and UM Social Principles
FAQs About Sexual Misconduct and Abuse
Filing a Complaint - The UMC Complaint Process Chart
How to File a Complaint - Clergy or Ministry Leader Sexual Misconduct
Official United Methodist Online Resource – Sexual Misconduct and the Church
Sexual Harassment by Congregants: What You Should Know
Ministry Safe
- NTC Center for Leadership Development
- How to Develop a Local Church Policy on Sexual Misconduct
- FUMC McKinney Ministry Safe Policies and Procedures
Church/Work Safety/Security Plans, Policies and Procedures
Social and Electronic Media Policies and Procedures
Church and Workplace Safety
- Threats, Violence and Houses of Worship: How to Respond
- Workplace Violence Program - U.S Department of Labor
- Workplace Violence Prevention
- The 4 Types of Workplace Violence: Here’s What You Need to Know
General Crisis Information
Sexual Misconduct and Abuse
- Appropriate Professional Boundaries
- The Difference Between Collusion and Empathy
- Facts, Myths About Child Sexual Abuse
- Failure to Act
- Information About Child Sexual Abuse
- Ministry Safe Articles
- Misconduct of a Sexual Nature is About Power
- A Real Life Story
- Resist and Report: The Temptation to Investigate
- Sex Offender Behavior
- Sexual Abuse in Christian Organizations
- Sexual Misconduct at Church: What Every Member Should Know
- Sexual Misconduct in the Church: Understanding the Role of Power
- The Spiritual Impact of Abuse
- Stopping Sex Offenders in Their Tracks
- Study on Clergy Sexual Misconduct - Baylor School of Social Work
- Ten Myths of Clergy Sexual Misconduct
- Walls of Silence: Protecting the Institution Over the Individual
- What to Say and Not to Say to a Victim of Sexual Assault
- Why It’s Not an Affair
Sex Offenders/Alleged Sex Offenders Active in the Church Community