Safe Church Team Network Evening

21^st May, 2024

Addressing Domestic & Family Violence in our Communities

God is love. And God calls us to love him and to love those around us, especially those in our own family. But as recent examples of horrific violence show us, the experience of so many Australians (women, children but also men) is not one of loving, healthy relationship but of fear, intimidation and control by a family member, someone close to them or shockingly even by a stranger. In our country there is a growing groundswell of dissatisfaction and even anger at the way things are. It has been described by our leaders as a national crisis. And the church is not immune. This tragically is the experience of people in our churches as well as the wider communities where we long to share Jesus. We can often feel ill-equipped to know how to support victim survivors who are facing this situation as a day-to-day reality. As churches, we want to be at the forefront of providing care and examples of loving family relationships.

We invite church pastors, leaders and Safe Church Team members to join us on 21st May as we consider together how we can address domestic and family violence in our communities. The evening will be facilitated by Carolyn Cousins who is a respected social worker and adult educator with extensive professional experience in the field of trauma, abuse, and domestic and family violence. We will hear a presentation from NSW Police about their important work in this area including information about the new coercive control offences that will take effect in NSW on 1 July 2024. A panel discussion will include experts from NSW Police, Common Grace, Horizon’s Family Law Centre and local church leaders.

The evening will also hear brief updates from the Ministry Standards Team on the Safe Church Health Check and the recently update to the Safe Church Package. We hope you can join us to be equipped from experts in this area, and to network and be encouraged by other church leaders.  Feel free to share this invitation with local church pastors, leaders and Safe Church Team members.

“Our commitment to address domestic and family violence in our communities continues to be a priority for the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT.
I encourage you to continue to pray, advocate and take action to prevent and respond to domestic and family violence.
I hope you can join the Ministry Standards Team at the 2024 Safe Church Team Network Evening to be further equipped regarding this important issue.”
Rev Dr Steve Bartlett