See the list of Safe Church resources below. If a resource that you need is not below, please contact your Safe Church Officer for assistance!
Background
The Safe church initiative began as result of a recognition by both the Anglican Church of Canada and the Ecclesiastical province of Rupert’s Land that we have a biblical and legal obligation to ensure that we are caring for our property and people as best we can.
The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada passed Resolution A-128 which states that it shall:
1. “Adopt The Anglican Communion Charter for the Safety of People and the Protocol for the Disclosure of Ministry Suitability Information between the Churches of the Anglican Communion;
2. Commend the Charter to dioceses and other bodies of The Anglican Church of Canada for use in the revision and creation of policies and training materials for safeguarding and right conduct…”
Source: https://www.anglican.ca/faith/ministry/safe-church/
The Anglican Communion Safe Church Charter Commitment 5: A Culture of Safety states “we will promote a culture of safety in parishes and church organizations by education and training to help clergy, other church personnel and participants prevent the occurrence of abuse.”
Source: Implementing the Anglican Communion Safe Church Charter In the Anglican Church of Canada: A Guide for Review of Policy and Practice
In response to this, the Province of Rupert’s Land produced a resource designed to assist each parish to take “protective action” to strengthen administration and stewardship of our property, both real and financial, as well as care for the members of the Body of Christ.
Leaders in our Diocese have a moral, fiduciary and scriptural obligation to “care for, support, and protect the most vulnerable in our world….the best way to protect the vulnerable and to safeguard ourselves is to provide competent and effective administration at all levels of the Church.” Source: Ashdown, Rt. Rev. David, Ensuring Sustainability (Qu’Appelle Version), January, 2018, p. 9.
In June of 2018, our Diocesan Council passed a motion approving this resource, entitled Ensuring Sustainability: A "Best Practices" Risk Management Package for Parishes for use diocesan-wide. A copy is available below.
We are called to be good stewards of our resources and to care for our fellow disciples in Christ. That is the goal of the Safe Church initiative. As a parish, your willingness to spend time and energy ensuring that property and people are well cared for means you are being faithful to that call.
The Safe Church Officer's role is to ensure that parishes have all the resources and information that they need to implement helpful practices in their parish life.
