Safeguarding Church Culture 

Our church culture is important because it expresses the fruit of God’s grace in our life as his people: we want that life to increasingly reflect Christ as we follow him together. We want to serve and care well for one another, and part of that means being realistic about sin and brokenness, and taking seriously the danger of sin that is undealt with. This document seeks to outline how we are seeking to safeguard a healthy culture as an outworking of our church promise.
 

Caring well for one another

Because Christ has reconciled us to one another as members of his body, how we treat one another is where we witness the fruit of the Spirit and how the world recognises us as disciples of Jesus (John 13:35).
 
With God’s help caring well for one another will mean:

• Meeting regularly and being willing to know and be known by others (Heb 10:25)
• Valuing each member of the body equally, recognising all as made in the image of God and precious to him, and celebrating the diversity of gifts entrusted to us (Eph 4:1-16; Jas 2:1)
• Being kind and gentle in our interactions with others, and in humility to serve one another generously (Phil 2:1-11)
• Being especially concerned for the welfare of the vulnerable amongst us (Prov 31:8-9, Matthew 26:34-46)

 

Taking sin seriously

The Christian life is described as an ongoing battle against sin which must be confessed, and with the Holy Spirit’s help we must repent and put it to death. This battle is not one we do alone, but alongside one another as we seek to submit our lives to the good will of God. Our sin can lead us to hurt and harm each other and we will need to bear with and forgive one another. At the same time we are called to take sin seriously and lovingly speak into one another’s lives that we might not be deceived by undealt with sin (Rom 8:13; 1 John 1:8-10; Eph 4:15).
 
With God’s help, taking sin seriously will mean we:

• Encourage, teach, train and correct each other according to God’s word (1 Peter 4:8-11, Heb 10:24)
• Listen in humility to loving rebukes, being ready to acknowledge and repent of our sin (Prov 10:17)
• Respect the authority and leadership of those appointed to lead the church in following Christ, in so far as their leadership is biblical, humble and sacrificially loving (Heb 13:17, 1 Peter 5:1-4, Acts 20:28)
• Speak out against sin that is unrepented of either directly or via provided channels (Matt 18:15-20)
• Enact church discipline where a member refuses to listen to rebukes and continues in unrepentant sin (Matt 18:15-20; 1 Cor 5:9-11). [With an awareness of the potential harm that can be caused by imbalance of power - see below] 

 

Using our power to serve

Power is a gift that God gives to be used for the good of others that they might flourish. Sin, however, uses power to serve our own ends. We therefore want to safeguard a culture that seeks to honour God in the way we use power: understanding where we have it over others, and considering what it means to use it in service of their good.
 
We all have power over others and it can take many forms, e.g. emotional, financial or physical power. Or it could result from an imbalance of knowledge, intellect or skills. Those in positions of leadership within the church, formally and informally, have increased power over members of the body, which Christ gives for the good of the church. Yet, because of sin, the misuse of the power accompanying spiritual leadership has the capacity for harm, such as spiritual abuse (defined as coercion and control of one individual by another in a spiritual context).  
 
At Grace Church, those who lead, within the eldership, in appointed ministry areas, or by virtue of spiritual maturity should be characterised by:

• Humble service in love of the body of the church, according to the model of Christ Jesus, recognising that their authority is entrusted to them by God (1 Peter 5:1-4)
• A commitment to building up the church body in love and spiritual growth, through teaching, example and promoting our mutual encouragement of one another.
• A commitment to be accountable to the plurality of the church leadership, and to work with others within the church in decision making and responding to matters of church life.
• A quickness to acknowledge or accept fault or failure in any capacity when it is due, and to seek to redress this (Prov 10:17)

Healthy leadership welcomes complaints and criticism, recognising that God uses such occasions to grow the health and understanding of his people. Two different examples from Acts are helpful.

• In Acts 6 the Hebraic Jews rightly identify an unfairness in how support is being distributed in the community. The leaders acknowledge the oversight and take responsibility for leading the church in addressing the concern. The result is that the church ‘increased rapidly’.
• In Acts 11, criticism is raised about Peter’s apparently compromising behaviour mixing with non-Jews. Peter is able to respond to their criticism and explain why it is wrong. The result is not only collective agreement, but further reasons to praise God.

We give thanks that good leaders are a gift from God for our good as a church. We will pray for our leaders to have God’s help in using their power to serve, and that we would welcome its proper use.
 

Safeguarding church culture: a shared responsibility

Safeguarding a healthy church culture is a shared responsibility we each have as members of Grace. We want to work together to promote what is good and right, and safeguard one another from harm. This will mean:

• Encouraging each other to speak out when we have a concern, no matter how small, and being ready to talk about our church culture and how we are doing - whether positive or negative.
• Listening well to each other, and never minimising a concern that another member of the body has
• Recognising the need to identify and address unhelpful or unhealthy behaviour to prevent this becoming harmful.
• Adhering to the policies and guidelines we have in place for specific aspects of church life, including our Safeguarding Policy for protection of the vulnerable, and our Pastoral Care Policy.
• Using appropriate channels to raise concerns or feedback

In order to ensure a healthy and safe culture is grown and maintained, the leadership and safeguarding team of the Church will be responsible for:

• Promoting safeguarding within church life, ensuring that everyone knows who to go to when they have a concern, including externally when needed, and can see that concerns are taken seriously
• Taking all appropriate action when concerns are raised, and feedback to all those involved
• Teaching which promotes a healthy church culture
• Ensuring safeguarding training is provided across the church at different levels
• Periodic reviews of how our culture measures up to our aims 
• 360 reviews for staff members 

For more information about safeguarding at Grace Church contact a member of the safeguarding team


Safeguarding Homepage