Child Safety Standards: Theological Foundations

This month we are highlighting the theological foundations for Child Safety Standard #3, “We Include Families”, which addresses the important role of families in keeping children safe.

The very nature of the triune God speaks of the importance of close, supportive, committed, loving relationships (1 John 4:8). For children, those relationships are primarily to be found within the family (Ephesians 5:33, 6:1,4).

Families come in many shapes and sizes, but no matter how they look, we welcome and support families to provide love and care for their children by modelling Christ-like practices (John 15:12;1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6) and sharing Jesus’ transformative love with them (Ephesians 4:21–24).

We might ask:

• How does our congregation support families?
• How does it keep families informed?
• How does it listen to the concerns of families?
• How are families involved in the decisions which affect their children?

Check out the family resources on the LCA Child Safety Standards webpage.