As the Safe and Accessible Ministry Officer at church, my job is to ensure that our systems and practises at Church ensure the safety of everyone involved in our ministries and to think and act strategically to make those ministries accessible to all.

It’s a big job description, involving encouraging people to be trained in Safe Ministry, checking and keeping details of various checks and standards and liasing with our Senior Minister and Parish Council and Wardens to ensure that we have systems and audits to keep a check on our property and programs being safe and accessible for anyone who comes on site.

Recently I met with our amazing Parish Council to seek their assistance in actioning some important points. One of the areas in which we have agreed needs some action soon is making our services even more accessible for anyone who attends.

Some things on the table for consideration are:

• Large print bibles available at the door (NLT) upon welcoming
• Adjusting some of the rows to accommodate children being able to move around safely during services
• Auditing our hall to ensure safety compliance and the best use of our space for fellowship purposes
• Adjusting some things to make them more accessible for anyone with mobility issues or height limitations

Making our ministries safe and accessible is EVERYONE’s job, my job is to champion you doing those things! If you have any thoughts about this or suggestions about how we could improve things promptly – I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to call me, email me or chat with me at church (9am during term time or 4pm in school holidays)

Gemma Bartlett