Child Safety
The Child Protection & Abuse Prevention Department aims to extend the best child protection practice throughout our Seventh-day Adventist churches and does all they can to minimise the risk of any abuse taking place in our church settings.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we believe that children, youth and adults should live without fear of abuse when attending church activities. In all aspects of life, there are various forms of abuse and harassment that could escalate if unreported or not acted upon when disclosed. Our aim is that by extending the best child protection practice throughout our churches, we will be able to combat these situations.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church places great importance upon family life. It affirms the dignity and worth of each human being and condemns all forms of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and family violence. The church recognises the global extent of this problem and the serious, long-term effects upon the lives of all involved. We believe that Seventh-day Adventists must respond to abuse and family violence, both within the church and in the community, and that to remain indifferent and unresponsive is to condone, perpetuate, and potentially extend such behaviour.
Several abbreviations that appear frequently in the work for this department are as follows:
Keeping our Church Family Safe (KCFS) – This is the name of our UK headquarters’ (British Union Conference) child protection policy. It calls for those of our church members who work with under 18-year-olds to be trained in Child Protection procedures as well as to apply for a CRB disclosure.
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) – This is a service that has established a system for ensuring that all those who work with children and youth can be checked to see if they have a police record. Checks are requested with the consent of the individual children/youth worker.
CSR (Child Safety Representative) – These are representatives appointed in each of our churches to administrate the CRB disclosure application and to organise Child Protection training. When visiting one of our churches, we invite you to talk to this person to obtain training, a DBS application and more information.
As a church member, how do I get a CRB check?
Talk to your local church’s Child Safety Representative. They will explain about the online application process.
As a church member, how do I get Child Protection training?
Firstly, please contact your local church’s Child Safety Representative for training opportunities. If they are not able to help, please contact us at the South England Conference for more information.
Links & Resources
DBS Online Disclosure Service
Keeping the Church Family Safe Updated 2018