I’ve sat across from more than a few weeping souls, now, who’ve been abruptly fired by the church. In their minds, it’s without just cause – and in all cases, they were told that, if they wanted severance pay, they needed to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Hush money.

The more resourced ones sought legal advice and didn’t sign. Smart.

The last three I talked with were women of colour in mainline churches who had spoken up a little too much – spoken truth to power to white folks (in all 3 cases, white women) higher up in a church hierarchy.

Pack your desk. There’s the door. Sign this if you want severance.

As I was processing my own spiritual trauma a few years back, I listened to numerous podcasts and learned just how common this phenomenon in larger evangelical, charismatic and non-denominational churches.

NDA’s are, indeed, a common tool of silencing folks and protecting powerful leaders who are often backed by legions of lawyers and PR and HR wizards.

You’d think liberal churches would do better.

Sadly, not so much. The folks I’ve talked to are Anglicans, United Church and Presbyterians who after years of putting up with ut, found their voices and challenged authority (in their minds, in a reasonable way) and experienced this pain.

So, a challenge, denominational leaders: There is no reason to silence someone. Don’t force someone to sign an NDA in these situations. Unless there’s a good reason, it’s vile and unjust. What do you have to hide?

There are no ‘trade secrets’ to protect in the church. The gospel is open source.

Is there ever a reason to have a church employee sign an NDA? Perhaps there is – but in all 3 cases I experienced, I just don’t see it.

I’m grateful to Can’t Buy My Silence who have compiled this Canadian resource (which I originally found at the #ACCToo website – a website chronicling the mishandling of abuses and cover-ups in The Anglican Church of Canada) – which includes how to get out of an NDA if you regret signing.

If you’re finding yourself in this situation where you’re being pressured to sign, or regret doing so, it’s worth a read.