A safe church is a transparent one

Carl Chambers argues that victims of abuse have been failed by churches too easily covering things up

In 2015, Matthew Syed published a book called Black Box Thinking. He contrasts the culture of the airline industry with the health service in the US and UK.

He notes how the ‘safety culture’ in the airline industry is one that positively encourages people to admit to making mistakes. The aim is to encourage transparency and learning, so accidents can be avoided in the future. Success has been seen in the decline in plane crashes over the decades, despite air travel increasing hugely.