Toongabbie Anglican Church Blog

Weekly Blurb

Safe Ministry

Sunday 2 April, 2006 · Posted by Philip Bassett

On page 6 of this months Southern Cross there is an article featuring our own Faye Hansen in her role of Chairperson of TAMAR (Towards A More Appropriate Response) about the introduction of the Uniform Code of Conduct for clergy and church workers.  To date only 9 (including Sydney) of Australian Anglican Diocese’s have adopted the code.  Please read the article and pray that as other dioceses have their Synods they will adopt the code.

National church ‘needs to cooperate’

Sydney diocese was the first to adopt and implement the code and we will see a number of measures taken in the near future to ensure that Toongabbie Anglican Church complies with the provision of the code.  In addition there are issues of health and safety that are being examined and we hope to have available soon a statement of minimum standards applicable in the areas of behaviour, health and safety and a person appointed to be our Safe Ministry representative.

It is a sad fact that unless we as a church accept these guidelines, which to some extent can be a limitation on our freedom, it is all too possible for accidents and illness to occur and worst of all abuse of children and even vulnerable adults to be perpetrated.

Faye is quoted as saying, “You would like to hope that with a uniform code of conduct we can reduce abuse, but we can’t ever completely eliminate it as long as sin exists in the world.”

However we can, as responsible servants of Christ, we can do what we can to make our church as safe as reasonably possible.

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