Safeguarding

Promoting a Safer Church

Our safeguarding policy

We take the care of children and vulnerable adults very seriously and work hard to ensure that we operate in line with current best practice, as recommended by the Diocese of London and the Church of England.

We believe the care and protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults who are involved in church activities is the responsibility of the whole Church. Everyone who participates in the life of the Church has a role to play in promoting a Safer Church for all.

We commit to the following:
• We accept and endorse the principles of ‘Safeguarding in the Diocese of London’.
• We commit ourselves to nurture, protect and safeguard all our members, particularly children, young people and adults at risk.
• We recognise that safeguarding i s the responsibility of the whole church community.
• We undertake to exercise proper care in the selection, appointment, training and support of those working in both paid and voluntary positions with children, young people or adults at risk, including the use of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosures and making appropriate referrals to the Disclosure and Barring Services.
• We will respond without delay to concerns or allegations that a child, young person or adult at risk may have been harmed, cooperating with the pol ice and social care services in any investigation.
• We will challenge any abuse of power by anyone in a position of trust.
• We will seek to offer pastoral care and support to anyone who has suffered abuse, developing with them appropriate pastoral support.
• We will seek to offer pastoral care and support, including supervision and referral to the proper authorities, to any member of our church community known to have offended against a child, young person or adult at risk.

If you have any concerns, please speak to our safeguarding officer: Barbara Ofori-Boateng.
Contact: safeguarding@stjohnschelsea.org // +44 (0) 7956 418659

Other helpful information:

Diocesan Safeguarding Advisers Telephone: 020 7932 1224 Email: safeguarding@london.anglican.org
Thirtyone:Eight’s 24-hour helpline - 0303 003 1111
Family Lives - 0808 800 222
Childline - 0800 1111

Domestic Abuse Help:

Women’s Aid
- Telephone: 0808 2000 247
- Website: www.womensaid.org.uk
Refuge National Domestic Violence Helpline
- Telephone: 0808 2000 247 - freephone, 24-hour.
- Website: www.refuge.org.uk
National Centre for Domestic Violence - free, fast emergency injunction service. 24 hour
- Telephone: 0800 970 2070
- Website: www.ncdv.org.uk

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

Welcome!

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet at the Church Building (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 11:00am. Our church is at the top of the stairs, and we have a lift available, too!

We'd love to have you arrive 10-15 minutes earlier to join us for a cuppa, and to find somewhere to sit before the service begins.

When you arrive at the main door, the church hall is the first set of doors on your right. You will be greeted by a welcomer or by some of the kids running around!

Accessibility: We have a lift available at the back of our stairs, as well as a disabled toilet.

Our Service

We start the main service around 11:10am with a welcome from one of our team members. The service includes some singing, a time of confession together, prayer as a church family, and then a 5 minute break to stretch our legs and refill our cups.

We then get back together for individual prayer requests, and hearing from the Word of God with with a Bible passage followed by a sermon (where the preacher teaches the passage).

Afterwards we sing another song before closing our time together.*

We eat lunch together as a family after the service (except for the Sunday of the month) - please do stay to eat with us!

*(Once a month we will have the Lord's Supper together after the sermon.)

Church lunch - 1

What about my kids?

We all worship as one church family during the first half of the service, but during the break children aged 3-11 will head to our Sunday Class called Explorers for Bible teaching, games and discussion with certified leaders. They will stay in the group until the end of the service, when we will have lunch together.

Once they reach secondary school age (Year 7+), they will start transitioning into the main service.

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Getting Connected

Community Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in our midweek smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our Community Groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other as church family.

We have groups on either Wednesday or Thursday evening.

Serving and Volunteering

When you've settled in at St John's and would be interested in serving to help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team. Our Parish Administrator, Rhoda, organises our serving & volunteering rotas.

Socials

We also run a range of socials with at least something happening each month - see our calendar for more info!

Other Ministries

English Conversation Cafe (Tuesday mornings)
English Language Classes (Monday & Wednesday afternoons)
Bread 4 Life (Friday afternoons)
Door-knocking

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

Leadership


Andy Mason		Darren Nardoni
Vicar		Assistant Minister

Whatever your questions, whatever your burdens, whatever your struggles, you are very welcome here at St John's. We look forward to getting to know you!

Blessings,
Andy and Darren