Kids Safety: More Than a Course
Dear friends,
I was blown away again last weekend by the children and youth programs at our church. As the wave of children descended upon our site on Friday, as the flood of children and parents exited church to their programs on Sunday, I was provoked to give great thanks to God for all these little ones who are in our care, growing as wholehearted disciples of Jesus. But I was also reminded of the immense responsibility we have to keep them safe temporally even as we seek to secure their eternal future.
The task that Josh Hayward, Peter Oates and their teams undertake each week to facilitate excellent gospel ministry to hundreds of young people is ginormous. But today, while I want to commend them to your prayers, I also want us to raise our eyes to the ongoing safety needs of all the Children and Youth at Christ Church. There are three things I would like you to be attentive to.
First, our WHS Committee is working hard to ensure all of the spaces children spend time in are safe and fit for purpose and that our systems for safety are known and trusted. To this end, on Sunday 11 June we will be holding an evacuation drill for the Children's and Youth groups only during the 9.15 Mornings service. While adults stay in church our CYF leaders will practise safely evacuating all the children and young people so that we can all be confident in that process should we ever need to do it for real. Later in the year we will practise evacuating one of our adult services.
(Previous information about the evacuation was slightly incorrect. Only the CYF programs will be involved in an evacuation drill on 11 June).
Secondly, our carpark is a complex and busy space. We are aware that it is often difficult to navigate, find a park and manoeuvre through - add in the presence of 100s of children (often in the dark) on Fridays and Sundays and the risks escalate. Parish Council are attentive to the need for parking improvement but today I am asking that we might all be extra attentive to our cars and their surrounds when we are using the carpark. Please drive carefully and slowly every time you are in the carpark, being watchful for people of all ages who are moving around.
Thirdly, I continue to encourage all our church members to complete Safe Ministry Training. This training exists to inform and equip leaders, parents and church members for safe, godly and careful ministry to young and vulnerable people. It is compulsory for all those who serve in such ministry but when a whole church gets on board and gets trained, the safety of young and vulnerable people in our midst improves dramatically.
As a church, we are robustly committed to Safe Ministry and I want us to work hard together to protect the children and young people in our care and the name of Jesus from those who wish to do evil. The more people who know about our Safe Ministry procedures and are trained in them, the better we will be as a community in protecting each other.
To get started, head to safeministry.training. This is the only place to find Sydney Anglican approved training. And once you have completed the course, email us your certificate so we can thank you and also remind you to renew your training in three years time. Ensuring we are engaged in Safe Ministry is not just the job of Ros Lloyd (our Safe Ministry Representative), nor is it just something for Josh and Pete to worry about. Safe Ministry ought to be the concern of all of us so thanks for jumping in, being trained and being a part of making Christ Church St Ives a safe place for young and vulnerable people.
Kids Safety is about more than the course. Thanks for loving the children in our midst through your prayers, let’s keep loving them through our actions as well. Amen.
