Safeguarding: Everyone's responsibility
Safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults is central to our mission and ministry and is integral in the Diocesan Vision, which asks us to consider how to make our church communities healthier.
It is everyone's responsibility.
The Church of England, in the policy document 'Promoting a Safer Church' set out the following principles for its safeguarding work:
- Promoting a safer environment and culture. This means that we respect all children, young people and adults, and are committed to their care and nurture, the provision of respectful pastoral ministry and establishing safer, caring communities which provide an environment of love where there is informed vigilance as to the risk of harm.
- We shall select and train carefully all those with any responsibility related to children or adults within the Church, in line with safer recruitment principles.
- We shall respond promptly to every concern raised which suggests that a child, young person or adult may have been harmed or be at risk of harm. We will cooperate with the statutory authorities in their safeguarding work.
- We shall endeavour to work with anyone who is suffering or who has suffered abuse or harm, developing with them and others appropriate support and care.
- We shall challenge any abuse in our Church communities, and care pastorally for those who are the subject of concerns or allegations of abuse.
- We shall endeavour to offer pastoral care and support, including managed oversight and referral to the proper authorities, to any member of our church community who may present a risk to a child, young person or adult.
The parish of Christ Church, Chatburn is committed to the safeguarding of children, young people and adults. Our Safeguarding page and links are aimed to guide us all on the part that we need to play, to ensure the church is a safe environment, where concerns are responded to and people can flourish.
We follow the House of Bishops Safeguarding Policy ‘Promoting a Safer Church’, information can be found through this link guidance and policies and we have our own Parish Safeguarding Officer(PSO) Vikki Hall.
On this page you will also find links to our and useful regarding safeguarding within the Church.
The Diocese of Blackburn's safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contact details for the Diocesan Safeguarding Team (DST) who advise the PSOs.
If you are concerned a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the DST. If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority Children or Adults Social Services.
- The Police by dialling 101 or online at www.lancashire.police.uk/contact-us;
- Lancashire Victim Services on 0300 323 0085 or online at www.lancashirevictimservices.org/contact
- or contact the NSPCC on 0800 80 20 20.
Open letter to the Diocese of Blackburn on the resignation of Justin Welby 12th November 2024.
Dear Friends,
This will have been a very tense and difficult week for many in the Church of England, not least for survivors of abuse.
These survivors will have found it very hard indeed to see abuse such as that which was perpetrated by John Smyth discussed
across all media and re-traumatised when the response of the Church, which fell so short, has been laid bare.
We write in this context and in response to the news that the Archbishop of Canterbury has chosen to resign following criticism he has received following the publication of the Makin Report into the activities of the serial abuser John
Smyth.
The Archbishop has been a bold and dedicated servant of the Church who has contributed to our common life in so many ways.
His threefold focus on prayer, reconciliation and evangelism has been an inspiration to many and has doubtless made an impact on the culture of the Church of England.
However it is only right that those in the most senior positions are held to the highest standards, and his decision to step aside following the revelations in the Makin Report is an understandable one.
He leaves with our love and prayers.
As the Church of England, we now have an enormous task in front of us. We need to renew our Church such that it places the needs of the most vulnerable, including survivors of abuse, at the centre.
We need to reform our safeguarding culture and processes in order to regain people’s confidence.
We need to hear the voices of critics as prophetic ones. The challenges sound hard, butwe do not face them alone.
Much of the coverage in recent days has suggested that the Archbishop of Canterbury is the ‘head’ of the Church of England.
However the Church of God, of which the Church of England is a small part, has only one Head who is Jesus Christ. It is he who can forgive sin and grant a fresh start. It is he who awakens our consciences to the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable. It
is he who is shaking His Church awake. It is in him that we will find the renewal we long for.
May this moment of crisis be the time when we offer ourselves to him afresh, and in so doing, find life.
The Rt Rev’ds Philip North, Jill Duff and Joe Kennedy