Thursday, August 03, 2006

Making Safe Sanctuaries

Thank you to everyone who came out last night for our first session of training and reflection on Safe Sanctuaries. Safe Sanctuaries is a program developed by Joy Thornburg Melton in her books Safe Sanctuaries, Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in the Church and Safe Sanctuaries for Youth, Reducing the Risk of Abuse in Youth Ministries.

I cannot stress enough the importance of this program. This isn't just another state of church mandated program to cover ourselves from lawsuits. This is a comprehensive undertaking, an effort to do everything we can to protect the children and youth of our church for abuse and neglect.

As the body of Christ, we are called to be responsible for the most vulnerable members of the body. That means not just having good intentions, but being intentional about doing every thing we can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children who seek and expect sanctuary in our presence.

The training last night and this Sunday is only mandatory for people involved with children and/or youth at the church. However, everyone is welcome. Whether you attend the training or not, I hope everyone will embrace these programs and policies and see them as part of the ministry of the church.

peace,

will

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