Importance of Safeguarding Coordinator Role in Church Communities
Understanding the importance and barriers of the safeguarding coordinator role within church communities, emphasizing the need for proper training, policies, and strategies to protect and support individuals effectively. Explore the benefits of valuing and protecting community members, building confidence, and healing survivors with updated practices.
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Presentation Transcript
Safeguarding: protecting the local church from itself
Why is the safeguarding coordinator role important? What we do and say will be the way that we are judged by the world. The church is seen by many as falling short in its duty to protect and care for those on the fringes of society.
Its only a few volunteers, we can just get them on board and train them later We are really short of help, so let s not worry about the paperwork this time I only clean the building, why do I need to do that training? I don t have time to change anything now, it will have to be put on my list for next month I am sure we are ok here, we know everyone and they have been coming for years I don t need training. Before I retired I ran the safeguarding training! Do we need to do this? Isn t this a safeguarding coordinator s job?
Why is the safeguarding coordinator role important? 1. Strategy: people Proverbs 4:6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you: love her and she will love you. 1. Ethos: policy 1. Training: practice
What are the barriers to the role? Strategy: people Fear or misunderstanding of the role and what it represents for churches (and wider community) Wrong reasons for appointing a safeguarding lead Time - not enough time or volunteers! Ethos: policy Outdated knowledge and policies Policies of Safer recruitment not followed Communications and reporting tools unknown Training: practice Not often in place or not regularly accessed Lack of awareness or inaccessible for volunteers
Benefits to the role Strategy: people - Valuing and protecting our communities. - Supporting the confidence of all (members, volunteers, elders, ecumenical partnerships, external groups) - Healing for survivors Ethos: policy - Raising the profile of church safeguarding practice to be on a par with secular systems Training: practice Guiding the Elders, volunteers and wider church in a way that builds on the value of the role
Our role in the community Matthew 5:30 Now is the time to rebuild community trust in the role of the church. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. At the heart of what we do as those involved in safguarding is good practice and policies. Using our new strategic plan to move forward in these areas, I hope we can continue to hold up our Safeguarding practices as an example of God's work and mission through us as the United Reformed Church.
