If you have any concerns for a child or any other vulnerable person associated with the church please contact any of the leaders but especially the Safeguarding Officer,
this may be done personally by written contact
or face to face
or more confidentially through the safeguarding email address - [email protected]
or mobile phone number - 07935 366429.
this may be done personally by written contact
or face to face
or more confidentially through the safeguarding email address - [email protected]
or mobile phone number - 07935 366429.
The Policy - Fundamental Principles
As a church the foundation of our worldview is the word of God, the Bible. In Mark 12:29-31 Jesus says that the greatest commandments of God are:
29 “The most important,” replied Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no greater commandment.”
Jesus here and through teaching elsewhere clearly expects His disciples (Christians) to think, act and speak in a way that respects these commandments and to hold others regardless of age, intellect or inherent qualities such as ethnicity in the highest regard.
The driving principle behind this is inherent in the origin of humanity, in Genesis God created humanity in His image and hence every human being bears that image, the imago Dei and therefore has intrinsic worth whatever deficiencies that person might have. In the Christian worldview even the unborn child or the person in a medically ‘vegetative state’ has that intrinsic worth.
At the same time the Bible makes clear that all have sinned and fallen short of that image of God,
23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, - Romans 3:23
as a consequence no-one can be assumed to be harmless which means that Christians are to be innocent as doves and wise as serpents exercising vigilance.
In Matthew 10 Jesus says 16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore have snakelike shrewdness and dove-like innocence.”
The leaders of the church have a particular responsibility to keep watch over the ‘flock’ the local body of believers
In Acts 20 Paul urges vigilance on the Ephesian church leaders
28 Keep watch over yourselves and the flock that the Holy Spirit has made you overseers of. Shepherds the church of God, that He purchased with his own blood. 29 I know that after I depart, savage wolves will enter in among you mercilessly. 30 Even from your own group people will arise and corrupt the truth to draw away followers after them. 31 So be vigilant!
Because of these two fundamental aspects of human life we recognise the intrinsic worth of every person but we are realistic about the potential for sin in every individual
That propensity for sin means that we must have in mind that sin may be manifested in any person at any time and that the more physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually vulnerable a person is the more at risk of being a victim of their own or another’s sin they may be.
The word of God contains dire warnings for the person who causes another to sin especially those that are vulnerable and it is for this reason that the church must be vigilant in protecting the vulnerable from the sins of others but also the temptation to sin. Identifying and protecting those vulnerable to commit sin as well as those vulnerable to its effects will require the church to challenge and reprove where behaviours and attitudes are identified as being sinful.
18 The disciples came to Jesus and requested Him to tell them, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called over a little child, and placing him among them 3 said: “Verily I tell you, unless you become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 So whoever takes the low position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven 5 and whoever welcomes such a child in my name welcomes me.
6 “If anyone causes one of these who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the ocean. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to fall short! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes stumbling, hack it off and throw it away, it is better for you to enter God's kingdom maimed or crippled than to have two whole hands and feet and be thrown into eternal fire, 9 and if your eye causes you to fall short, cut it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter God's kingdom with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the eternal fire.
10 “See that you do not abuse any of these ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” Matthew 18:1-10
The church commits itself to its safeguarding policy and the development of workable procedures to ensure its implementation.
So the church will seek to identify those who are potentially vulnerable (which will be primarily the young and the elderly) and take precautions to protect them from sin and will also seek to understand the weaknesses to sin of people and draw their attention where necessary to that weakness with the aim of keeping them from succumbing.
For example the person who has a conviction for dishonesty such as theft will not be given responsibility for finance or the person who has a propensity to pride or a lack of self-control will not be placed in a position of authority or control over others. Similarly those engaged in behaviours or attitudes inconsistent with the church’s understanding of Biblical standards will be challenged and reproved with the aim of their submitting themselves to God’s word as administered by the elders of the church and as understood by the church and expressed in the church’s doctrinal statements.
It is the duty of each and every church member to respond to concerns about the well-being of those affected by the activities of the church especially those perceived as vulnerable and members recognise that sin in our midst must not be tolerated but dealt with decisively, effectively and transparently.
As a church the foundation of our worldview is the word of God, the Bible. In Mark 12:29-31 Jesus says that the greatest commandments of God are:
29 “The most important,” replied Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no greater commandment.”
Jesus here and through teaching elsewhere clearly expects His disciples (Christians) to think, act and speak in a way that respects these commandments and to hold others regardless of age, intellect or inherent qualities such as ethnicity in the highest regard.
The driving principle behind this is inherent in the origin of humanity, in Genesis God created humanity in His image and hence every human being bears that image, the imago Dei and therefore has intrinsic worth whatever deficiencies that person might have. In the Christian worldview even the unborn child or the person in a medically ‘vegetative state’ has that intrinsic worth.
At the same time the Bible makes clear that all have sinned and fallen short of that image of God,
23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, - Romans 3:23
as a consequence no-one can be assumed to be harmless which means that Christians are to be innocent as doves and wise as serpents exercising vigilance.
In Matthew 10 Jesus says 16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore have snakelike shrewdness and dove-like innocence.”
The leaders of the church have a particular responsibility to keep watch over the ‘flock’ the local body of believers
In Acts 20 Paul urges vigilance on the Ephesian church leaders
28 Keep watch over yourselves and the flock that the Holy Spirit has made you overseers of. Shepherds the church of God, that He purchased with his own blood. 29 I know that after I depart, savage wolves will enter in among you mercilessly. 30 Even from your own group people will arise and corrupt the truth to draw away followers after them. 31 So be vigilant!
Because of these two fundamental aspects of human life we recognise the intrinsic worth of every person but we are realistic about the potential for sin in every individual
That propensity for sin means that we must have in mind that sin may be manifested in any person at any time and that the more physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually vulnerable a person is the more at risk of being a victim of their own or another’s sin they may be.
The word of God contains dire warnings for the person who causes another to sin especially those that are vulnerable and it is for this reason that the church must be vigilant in protecting the vulnerable from the sins of others but also the temptation to sin. Identifying and protecting those vulnerable to commit sin as well as those vulnerable to its effects will require the church to challenge and reprove where behaviours and attitudes are identified as being sinful.
18 The disciples came to Jesus and requested Him to tell them, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called over a little child, and placing him among them 3 said: “Verily I tell you, unless you become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 So whoever takes the low position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven 5 and whoever welcomes such a child in my name welcomes me.
6 “If anyone causes one of these who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the ocean. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to fall short! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes stumbling, hack it off and throw it away, it is better for you to enter God's kingdom maimed or crippled than to have two whole hands and feet and be thrown into eternal fire, 9 and if your eye causes you to fall short, cut it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter God's kingdom with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the eternal fire.
10 “See that you do not abuse any of these ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” Matthew 18:1-10
The church commits itself to its safeguarding policy and the development of workable procedures to ensure its implementation.
So the church will seek to identify those who are potentially vulnerable (which will be primarily the young and the elderly) and take precautions to protect them from sin and will also seek to understand the weaknesses to sin of people and draw their attention where necessary to that weakness with the aim of keeping them from succumbing.
For example the person who has a conviction for dishonesty such as theft will not be given responsibility for finance or the person who has a propensity to pride or a lack of self-control will not be placed in a position of authority or control over others. Similarly those engaged in behaviours or attitudes inconsistent with the church’s understanding of Biblical standards will be challenged and reproved with the aim of their submitting themselves to God’s word as administered by the elders of the church and as understood by the church and expressed in the church’s doctrinal statements.
It is the duty of each and every church member to respond to concerns about the well-being of those affected by the activities of the church especially those perceived as vulnerable and members recognise that sin in our midst must not be tolerated but dealt with decisively, effectively and transparently.
Procedures
It has been well said that whatever one intends to do particularly with children ask yourself how it would sound in a coroner’s court.
The church will comply with legal requirements in its activities, requiring that any children’s group (attendees under the age of 18) will have at least one adult present with First Aid training and at least one adult present with DBS certification, the church will also require that the person with primary responsibility for the group will be a church member and therefore under the authority of the church.
The church will establish mechanisms to permit the monitoring of potential risk especially to the vulnerable as follows:
It has been well said that whatever one intends to do particularly with children ask yourself how it would sound in a coroner’s court.
The church will comply with legal requirements in its activities, requiring that any children’s group (attendees under the age of 18) will have at least one adult present with First Aid training and at least one adult present with DBS certification, the church will also require that the person with primary responsibility for the group will be a church member and therefore under the authority of the church.
The church will establish mechanisms to permit the monitoring of potential risk especially to the vulnerable as follows:
- The appointment of a Safeguarding Officer to act as the primary contact for coordinating safeguarding policies and practises and that such appointment will avoid as far as is practicable any conflict of interest, for example it is not recommended that the appointee be connected with vulnerable persons as this might create bias in the handling of safeguarding issues.
- Appoint a Safeguarding Team to support the Safeguarding Officer and to act on his or her behalf when absent
- Establish means of reporting safeguarding concerns (ensuring confidentiality where required) such as a dedicated email address ([email protected]) and mobile phone number (07935 366429) in addition to conventional means of reporting by written correspondence or by personal contact with the Safeguarding Officer or via the church website contact form.
- Provide pastoral care and oversight of anyone associated with the church deemed to pose a potential risk of harm whilst maintaining appropriate confidentiality
- Record all reports whether formal or informal of safeguarding concerns in a log and review this log with the Safeguarding Team on a quarterly basis
- In the event of any accusation of abuse will refer this to those legally responsible for investigation
- The deacon responsible for Health and Safety will carry out risk assessments relating to any unusual church activities as well as monitoring Health and Safety issues in general.
- The deacon responsible for Health and Safety will ensure that adequate insurance cover is in place for the official activities of the church and will direct the leadership of the church to prohibit any activities that come to his attention for which insurance cover would not be adequate.
- The church members commit to accepting the direction of the deacon responsible for Health and Safety and also those of the Safeguarding Officer where activities or behaviours are deemed a risk to the health, safety and well-being of anyone associated with church activities.