All of us in the Reepham and Wensum Valley Churches welcome you

Safeguarding is all our responsibility; to honour a person, their wholeness, and their
uniqueness. To speak up for those who are vulnerable and have no voice, to notice and tell
your parish safeguarding officer and Incumbent. The response is important. It is saying you
are a child of God who is cherished. You are important, your life is important.
This is Reepham and Wensum Team Churches’ response to the Makin Report with
Safeguarding Sunday remembered and preached on across our Benefice on 17th November.
Within the Diocese of Norwich and Waveney and locally we openly talking about the
importance of Safeguarding.
Here are some quotes firstly from +Graham
“Those we serve in the parishes, chaplaincies and schools of this diocese need us more than
ever to be committed to safeguarding, supporting our Parish Safeguarding Officers and our
Diocesan Safeguarding Team. This Sunday is Safeguarding Sunday. It is an important time to
preach and pray about the work of safeguarding in our church: specifically that it is
everyone’s responsibility, and an integrated culture of safeguarding is part of what we do
because it is Gospel work and a Kingdom value.”
And from his Synod Address
“In our present storm, we do well to remember that God is the Lord of the Church. Our
church’s foundation is Jesus Christ, and I don’t believe that he has finished with the Church
of England yet. ‘Stay with us Jesus’, is my prayer, to enable us to take every step to being a
safer Church. Stay with us Jesus to purge us of the theologies that cause harm. Stay with us
Jesus to ensure the groupings we gravitate towards are healthy places and never look
inwards to protect self-interests. Stay with us Jesus to make us abandon the arrogance of
clericalism
so that the voices of all God’s people might be heard. Stay with us Jesus to move us from
not being curious or vigilant enough, because safeguarding is a shared responsibility.
To all parish safeguarding officers, thank you for all you do. Thank you to our church
officers, licensed lay leaders, ministry teams, youth and children’s workers, and clergy who
model a positive safeguarding culture. Thank you to those of you who take responsibility for
yourself and others to ensure we all have up to date safeguarding training. We do the work
of safeguarding because it is Kingdom work and because we want the best for the Church
we love and serve, and all with whom the church comes into contact.
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body,
though many, are one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Corinthians 12.12)
He who placed a child at the centre of things, he who sought out the vulnerable with love
and compassion, and he whose body was abused on the way to the Cross, seeks his living
body, the Church, to be safe for all who come to him. Lord, have mercy upon us.”
+Graham Norvic: Norwich, 23 November 2024
Safeguarding is something with which we should be engaged because it is about doing God’s
work. It is something we should take seriously because it shows we want to truly serve our
communities in Christ’s name.

Revd Richard Turk wrote in his sermon conclusion that
“Everything we do should be rooted in safeguarding. It is about who we are and who we
want to be… Are we the people of Christ, with good news to share with others? Are we
committed to protecting, serving, and loving others in the name of Christ? If we are, are we
committed to doing what is necessary to make people feel safe with us. And are we
committed to equipping others and one another for the task? The Church of England now
offers a range of safeguarding training, and it has been deliberately constructed in such a
way that the theology of safeguarding should be understood….My prayer is that we will
respond to such developments with an open heart and mind. My prayer is that we will each
commit to safeguarding all God’s children, whether actually children or adults, to the best of
our ability and that we will not shy away from undertaking the necessary training to enable
that. My prayer is that we will be able to demonstrate to those inside and outside our
worshipping communities that we take seriously the safety and well-being of
everyone…..Amen”
Thirtyone:eight is the UK’s only independent Christian Safeguarding Charity. It has lots of
resources for everyone. They have been inspired by God’s call to ‘speak out on behalf of the
voiceless and for the rights of all who are vulnerable’ Proverbs 31 v 8 (CEB).
Please do look at their resources (www.thiryoneeight.org) as well as speaking with your
local parish safeguarding officer as we pray for the work of safeguarding for all.
Revd Helen Rengert Team Rector