A message from the Bishop

 

‘I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.’ (John 13: 34-35)

I am grateful that we have a very professional diocesan Safeguarding team who train, support and work closely with our excellent parish Safeguarding Representatives. But the duty to love one another, to protect and safeguard one another, is part of that commandment we have all received from Christ Jesus; at its heart is the duty to help protect the safety and dignity of everyone, especially the most vulnerable, and to respect, listen carefully to, and learn from, those who have been victims and survivors of abuse.

So Safeguarding of others is part and parcel of the DNA of every Christian; an essential characteristic of our identity as Christ’s followers, and so it must be reflected in the way we all seek to protect, respect, and treat each other with care. The responsibility for Safeguarding across our diocese is therefore something that we cannot simply leave to others.
Only if each one of us is engaged in this way of thinking and acting can we foster a lived culture of safeguarding across our diocese.

I urge everyone in our parishes and chaplaincies to give your Safeguarding representative your full support, and to join with them in fostering a deeper and more evident culture of safeguarding, care and protection for everyone. It is our shared responsibility to ensure that our parishes and chaplaincies are safe places for everyone, especially those who are most vulnerable in our society.

Patrick McKinney
Bishop of Nottingham