Safeguarding at St Luke's

“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”

Psalm 91:2

If that is a description of God’s character then it should be something of our experience whenever we gather together. In recent weeks and months stories of how this has not been the case have been source of grief and sorrow and a need for repentance and humility.

It’s why safeguarding plays an important part in the life of St Luke’s Church.

Safeguarding shapes what we do at St Luke’s to make sure everything is done to protect people from harm and keep people safe. A summary of our safeguarding commitments can be found here.

I want to offer you 2 two word phrases that shape our approach to safeguarding.

1. People Matter

This is why when you volunteer in many areas of church life you might find there are forms to fill in, checks that need to be carried out, and a need to do some safeguarding training. It can feel like there is a lot to do but all this is important because people matter.

Every person who is part of St Luke’s or might be involved in something we do, whoever they are, matters. People matter.

2. Speak Up

There have been far too many stories of harm where people haven’t spoken up or those who have tried to speak up haven’t been listened to. If you see, hear, or feel something in the life of St Luke’s that doesn’t seem right, please speak up. If there is something from the past in the life of St Luke’s that needs to be spoken about, please speak up.

To help you to do this around the church building we have the poster below with a range of people at St Luke’s, in the Diocese of Leicester, or outside the church who you can contact to make sure there is always someone you feel will listen to you and take you seriously.

 When it comes to safeguarding at St Luke’s, people matter and speak up.

Resources

If you would like to read more about safeguarding in the Church of England you can read more here.

If you would like to do some safeguarding you can complete Basic Awareness, Foundations, and Responding Well to Domestic Abuse here (if you’ve not done any training before you will need to create an account).

Susie Leafe wrote an article for Premier Christianity called “7 ways to make the Church a safer place for everyone” which you can read here.

Ian Paul gave a helpful interview to channel 4 news on 11th November as to the story that lead to Archbishop Justin Welby resigning which you can watch here.

Glen Scrivener has produced an insightful response the Archbishop’s resignation in this video.