Theological Foundations – LCA Child Safety Standard 9

We regularly review our child safety progress.

God’s word urges us to continue to think about the things that are honourable, commendable and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). The protection of children certainly falls into those categories. We recognise that while God’s love for the vulnerable doesn’t change (1 Corinthians 13:13; Hebrews 13:8), our ability to enact and share God’s love will not be perfect on this side of eternity (Philippians 3:12), so we take to heart St Paul’s encouragement to strive for a more excellent way (1 Corinthians 12:31). In this, we not only give glory to God, but we bear witness to God’s love and commitment to a world often cynical about God and the church (1 Peter 2:12).

This standard encourages us to intentionally keep child safety at the forefront of our thinking and to hold ourselves accountable.

Thus, child safety will be on the agenda for all our governance meetings and our AGM. This will be not just in a passive sense, but we will actively discuss how we are tracking against the standards and our own action plans. The key word here is ‘action’, not just words.

Implementation of the Child Safety Standards is a living, continuous activity!