On Tuesday evening, 11 May 2021, over 250 people joined us for our first Safe Church Team Network evening. Over 100 churches from across NSW and ACT were represented, with many joining via Zoom.
During the evening we heard from
- Grae McWhirter, with a brief devotion honouring those with gifts in administration as an essential aspect of ministry in a healthy church.
- Sam Burnett from Prolegis Lawyers, with an overview of the proposed regulation of the Child Safe Standards in New South Wales
- Tim Williams from Baptist Insurance Services, with a helpful overview of public liability insurance cover and the requirements of the molestation declaration for ongoing policy coverage.
- Ministry Standards Manager Jonathan Bradford, with an overview of obligations under the Reportable Conduct Scheme and an update on the Safe Church Health Check.
We also heard from a panel of Safe Church Team members at Forbes, Gymea, and Gordon Baptist Churches about how they have implemented the Child Safe Standards. These three churches represent some of the diversity of our movement; the small rural community in Forbes, managing hundreds of volunteers in Gymea, and navigating safe church issues across multiple languages in Gordon.
The evening was a great opportunity to support one another in our shared work. We are encouraged to see the number and diversity of communities across our movement engaging with these mission critical issues.
A video of the event is available here.