Safeguarding Policy

Safeguarding Policy

Responding to Coronavirus at St. Luke’s

Responding to Coronavirus at St. Luke’s

You will have seen that Coronavirus is dominating the news at the moment and we are seeing a response that is unprecedented in recent history.

We don’t want to overreact, doing so causes fear and panic which causes damage but we also want to take things seriously enough, protect each other and follow advice from the experts. We will continue gathering together and running events until we are told that we need to stop, as you know we have already started to put some extra precautions in place.

Standing Committee have been spending a lot of time working on this over the past few days and we are putting a plan into place. There are plans for our current situation and plans for what might happen if we are asked to stop gathering together as has happened in some countries.

Plans for Now

(As set out in the latest Church of England guidance which can be seen here on their website):

We continue with Sunday Services but with a few precautions

  • We continue to receive Communion as bread only.
  • We will still offer a blessing but without touching.
  • We continue to share the peace without shaking hands or touching each other.
  • We will provide hand washing facilities and hand gel if possible.
  • We will not be serving refreshments after the service. We appreciate that this is a big thing and we are really sorry, the guidance from the Church is clear on this.
  • We have increased our cleaning schedule and the areas that are cleaned.

We are asking you to help us and protect each other by

  • Not coming to church if you are unwell, even if it is a cold, cough or runny nose and you believe it’s completely unrelated. Please do let us know though so that we can support in other ways.
  • Washing your hands as soon as you come into church. Our plan is to ask everyone to come in the lobby door and go straight to the bathrooms on their way in.
  • Follow the NHS guidelines on Catch it, Bin it, Kill it and hand washing.

We have made the difficult decision to stop Saturday Coffee until we can safely resume. I’m sorry, I know this is a valued group but there is an outright Church of England ban on refreshments in place. 

We may at some point in the future be asked to stop gathering together. It may not happen and we pray it doesn’t, but if it does the following will be put into place

  • Personal planning – we have put together a simple sheet with some questions to consider now about how you might cope if you were to have to isolate.
  • We will keep you updated with the latest information by email, Facebook, website and phone for those without online access.
  • We will support you by phone and/or email, some of us will be available to carry out practical tasks such as shopping, collecting medication, speaking to doctors/agencies if required.
  • We will be happy to hold details of your next of kin and liaise with them as required.
  • We have put together a ‘Worship at Home Pack’ with prayers and readings in that can be used at home. Please take one of these the next time you are in church, they’re available now, or alternatively download your pack here:
Download Worship at Home Pack
  • We will post talks, reflections and links to online worship on our Facebook page and website. These will be printed and delivered to those without internet access.

Please do talk to us if you have any questions or worries. We know that people are concerned but we have the opportunity to live out our faith by loving and caring for our neighbours and all pulling together.

“For God has said, ‘I will not leave you or forsake you’ so we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Version 1, 14 March 2020