SECOND SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT 17 11 24
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Daniel 12:1-3
NEW TESTAMENT READING: Hebrews 10:11-25
GOSPEL READING Mark 13:1-8
We are observing this Sunday as Safeguarding Sunday. This is to remind ourselves of the importance of Safeguarding in the church. The church is a great institution that has been witnessing to our Lord Jesus Christ ever since the day of the Pentecost. Over the years constantly growing to become a great global institution. The church has been able to so much of good things in the communities wherever they were placed. The church is the body of Christ made up of people.
The history of the church has been wonderful, but the church also has the sadness of incidents of abuse from time to time. Only recently the church took this seriously and put in place safeguarding measures to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults. It is the responsibility of the church to protect people from different kinds of abuse.
We are now facing a sad situation as the Makin report has been published about a particular person abusing hundreds of children and young men. The report exposed that not much was done to take the reporting of abuse seriously. This has led to the Archbishop of Canterbury resigning from his post. It is in this context that the Church of England is committing itself to be much more careful about Safeguarding.
In this context, Joanne Woolway Grenfell, the Bishop of Stepney and Lead Bishop for Safeguarding has said: ‘On Safeguarding Sunday, we draw attention to the way that safeguarding must sit at the heart of our faith and our lives as Christians. God is both compassionate and just: “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds . . . The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground” (Psalm 147). As the Makin Report points out in its first recommendation, safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility; it points to who we all are as children of God’.
It is the responsibility of the entire church to be cautious and careful about Safeguarding. In our church if there is a safeguarding concern it should be immediately reported to the Parish Safeguarding officers or directly to the Safeguarding department of the Diocese of Southwark. No one in the church should be subject to any kind of abuse.
In the Church of England, safeguarding is the work the Church does to promote a safe environment and culture for children, young people, and vulnerable adults. This includes:
- Promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults
- Preventing abuse
- Protecting those at risk of abuse
- Responding well to those who have been abused
- Safely recruiting and supporting those responsible for children and vulnerable adults
- Responding promptly to safeguarding concerns or allegations
- Caring for victims and survivors of abuse
Abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults causes great trauma and pain and we have learnt that abuse victims’ lives are shattered and moreover it is a crime to abuse people. On this Sunday we dedicate ourselves to do everything possible to keep our church as a safe space and as a blessed place.