The guiding principle of Safe Church is to protect the vulnerable and offer the opportunity for us, as Episcopalians, to be good neighbors to one another. The new and updated program, Safe Church, Safe Communities, was launched in the summer of 2021. Safe Church, Safe Communities provides new and updated training modules for clergy, laity, and parish staff. These resources give dioceses and parishes across the church the tools necessary to ensure that the most vulnerable among us find an Episcopal Church community of faith that is welcoming and safe.
Safe Church Model Policies were adopted in 2017 and can be found on The Episcopal Church’s website. They include model policies for safe ministries, for children and youth, and for vulnerable adults. The 79th General Convention authorized the formation of The Task Force to Develop Model Sexual Harassment Policies and Safe Church Training. The task force presented a report to the 80th General Convention outlining its progress and recommendations—recommendations that included the Safe Church, Safe Community program. At the heart of this work is the goal that all Episcopal parishes and dioceses be holy and safe places, communities from which we join to build a church that looks and acts like Jesus, where each of us is welcome and included.