A Safe Church

Living Faith Church is committed to providing our worshipping and pastoral communities with an environment free from abuse and a safe place for all people to express their faith in God. We value the safety of our children and those of our congregation at risk, including vulnerable adults.

The Living Faith Church 'Safe Church' policy has been adopted to ensure that we fulfil our commitment and obligation to create a safe organisation. Living Faith Church commit to the following actions to keep children and vulnerable adults safe. We will:

- Follow the Uniting Church Synod Vic Tas (UCA) current “Safe Church Policy” and the Churches of Christ Victoria (CCVT) “Child Safety Policy”; wherever CCVT and UCA requirements of implementation are the same, a single action of compliance will count for both (e.g., Working with Children Check (WWCC), Safe Church Training (SCT);

- Ensure that policies and procedures are implemented to embed a culture of safety;

- Encourage the training, supervision and support of employees and volunteers;

- Encourage access, equity, and diversity, including ensuring accessible policy and procedure requirements;

- Adopt and implement evidence-based standards to recruit and screen employees and to engage volunteers and others who work with children;

- Manage risk, promote safety, and respond to concerns, including the Living Faith Church formal complaints process;

- Actively explore opportunities for child, family, and community participation; and

- Commit to the Living Faith Church Inclusivity Vision.

Further information can be found on our 'Safe Church' policy, attached on this page, or on:

UCA Keeping Children Safe webpage https://safechurch.ucavictas.org.au/

CCVT Safe Places webpage https://churchesofchrist.org.au/for-churches/safe-places/

Living Faith Church pride ourselves on being a safe, inclusive place. If you feel unsafe at any time, we are here to help.

Please talk to our Pastors

Ellen Grabner: 0491 072 931

Kate Clough: 0411 523 153

or Safe Church Contact People

Janet: 0412 551 117

David: 0432 528 569

An Inclusive Church

The Church Council and Ministry Team, on behalf of Living Faith Church, acknowledge the harm done to the LGBTQIA+ community, including our own families. Excluding and undermining our siblings in Christ is neither trivial, necessary nor merely political. We are committed to doing better by providing an explicitly and intentionally safe space for worship and fellowship.

In 2023, Living Faith Church took a step towards this goal. The church council and leaders of various Living Faith Church Ministries and Life Groups met with Katecia Taylor and AJ Jensen from consulting organisation Queers Be With You. Queers Be With You offers educational workshops and individual consultations to Churches and Christian organisations who want to be more LGBTQIA+ inclusive.

https://www.queersbewithyou.com/

In 2024, Living Faith Church is looking to participate with Uniting Network Australia, which is the national network for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people, our families, friends and supporters within the Uniting Church in Australia.

Further information can be found on the Uniting Network documents 'A Welcoming Church' and 'An Open and Affirming Church', attached on this page.

Living Faith Church recognises that our diversity is a strength and that seeking the full participation of our members and community in everything we do is an element of our worship. (Psalm 34:8, we can recognise right conduct by its fruit).

The Living Faith Church ‘Call to Inclusivity’ policy has been adopted to shape how Living Faith Church creates and applies policies and procedures. It is informed by our vision, governing bodies, the Uniting Church in Australia and Churches of Christ Victoria Australia, state and federal legislation, and our history.

When applying policy and process, Living Faith Church is committed to:

- Keep our legal and regulatory obligations;

- Fully adhere to all LFC policies where possible, keeping the intent of our policies where processes cannot be kept in full;

- Inform our community about their rights and responsibilities, invite them to participate in decisions affecting them, and take their representations seriously;

- Ensure policy and procedures are understandable and accessible to all members of the community;

- Support our teams and members, and to equip them to support each other;

- Provide worshiping and pastoral communities that are free from abuse, and that provide safe environments for all people to explore and express their faith in God; and

- Call out policy and process that falls short of our vision and commitment to each other. (Colossians 3:12, an attitude of humility and repentance brings us closer to God).

Further information can be found on our 'Call to Inclusivity' policy, attached on this page.

Additionally, a collaborative research project conducted by La Trobe University, Macquarie University, AGMC (Australian GLBTIQ+ Multicultural Council), and Brave Network with support from the Steering Committee of the Improving Spiritual Health Care for LGBTQA+ Australians Research Project can be found in the document called ‘A Guide to Improving Safety in Pastoral Care with LGBTQA+ people, attached on this page.

Document cited: Jones, T.W., Despott, N., Jones, T.M., Anderson, J., Pallotta-Chiarolli, M., & Power, J. (2023) A Guide to Improving Safety in Pastoral Care with LGBTQA+ people. La Trobe University: Melbourne.

Living Faith Church acknowledges and prays for the First Nations People of the land on which we meet - the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We pay respects to their Elders past and present and we recognise their faithfulness to Country.

“You have set my feet in a wide-open place” says Psalm 31:8, in a single verse that burst with a sense of astonishment and joy out of a longer prayer for liberation and safety. What a glorious moment when we realize that we are, in fact, already safely planted by God in a space that invites us into trust, freedom, and opportunity to explore.

This verse captures my general sense of being part of Living Faith Church. From the very first day here, I have noticed consistently a strong culture of trust and care, confidence and compassion, willingness to engage and a deeply rooted assurance that God is good and that it will be well.

Looking at our faith community, I wonder whether you share this sense that under God’s good guidance, we are held safely, confident to live our faith and ready to look around in this open space around us – and see where God takes us? It is my prayer that we will all know for sure that God’s got our back and that we can nod our Yes to God’s invitation to move closer.

May we all be aware of how much trust, kindness and love our good God has for us. The One who has planted us in this inviting space will surely delight in every step that we take in faith.

The kingdom, the power and the glory are God’s, now and always.

Ellen Grabner - Minister