Category: Safe Church

In accordance with The Episcopal Church’s Safe Church, Safe Communities program, Universal Training is now offered for certification for work with Children/Youth and with Vulnerable Adults. Universal Safe Church training fosters a culture of safety and inclusion for all people. It covers a broad overview of issues of vulnerability, power, and healthy boundaries. Universal Safe Church training equips all people to live out their Baptismal Covenant.

Read more at Safe Church, Safe Communities on the website of the Episcopal Church.

Required courses

The following list are the required nine courses for universal Safe Church training. Expect all nine trainings to take 2-1/2 to 3 hours total to complete. These courses were selected in consultation with The Episcopal Church Task Force to Develop Model Sexual Harassment Policies and Safe Church Training, of which Judy Andrews, Diocese of Olympia’s Chancellor, has served as Chair. 

1. Universal Training: Inclusion
2. Universal Training: Healthy Boundaries
3. Universal Training: Organizational Rules & Policies
4. Universal Training: Introduction and Theological Background
5. Specialty Training: Power & Relationships
6. Specialty Training: Pastoral Relationships
7. Specialty Training: Bullying
8. Specialty Training: Abuse and Neglect
9. Duty to Report: Mandated Reporter

Instructions for signing up to take the courses and submitting your completion form for certification is at Safe Church Online. Certifications are valid for three years.

Other information about Safe Church certification and courses

There are no longer separate certifications for Safeguarding God’s Children and Safeguarding God’s People for the online program. Instead, the universal Safe Church certification is for ministries with all people.

Additional courses are available through the Praesidium Academy, such as “Social Media Safety,” “Know Your Policies,” and “Keeping Your Day Camp Safe.” Though not required, you make take these at any time. We encourage you to take a look through the offerings.

If you are already certified in Children, People, or both, your certification remains valid until it’s expiration. You do not need to take the new modules until expiration. However, you may wish to take the new courses now, and that is more than welcome.

If you have questions about the online update, Model Policies, and so forth, reach out to April Caballero at acaballero@ecww.org. If you have technical questions about the online platform, Praesidium, or your certification status, reach out to Tonja May at tmay@ecww.org.

Church of the Redeemer

Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

Three new courses related to safe church policies within The Episcopal Church were released July 14, 2021, with webinars planned soon to help dioceses transition to a new learning platform. All new courses will be launched to create a new program called Safe Church, Safe Communities.

Developed by the Task Force to Develop Model Sexual Harassment Policies and Safe Church Training in partnership with risk management vendor Praesidium, the new courses are the following:

• “Introduction and Theological Background”
• “Organizational Rules and Model Policies”
• “Abuse and Neglect”

“Abuse and Neglect” replaces the following courses: “Meet Sam,” “It Happened to Me,” “Keeping Your Church Safe,” and “Abuse Risk Management for Volunteers.”

A train-the-trainer course will also be available live over Zoom and in person in November, according to Judith Andrews, chair of the task force. In addition, the following courses will be added to Praesidium Academy by the end of 2021:

• Healthy Boundaries
• Power & Relationships
• Inclusion
• Pastoral Relationships
• Anti-Harassment
• Bullying
• Reporting Abuse

The new learning modules reflect policies approved by The Episcopal Church in 2017 for the protection of children, youth, and vulnerable adults. Learn more at https://www.episcopalchurch.org/safe-church/.

As the new course materials are being released, Praesidium is transitioning from the Armatus platform to Praesidium Academy. Learn more about the upgrade at https://praesidium.lpages.co/academy2021/.

All diocesan administrators have been sent instructions about the switch, with Christy Schiller of Praesidium working closely with them and task force members to support the migration of data and access to new course materials.

Many dioceses and Episcopal Church members have already established new accounts for Praesidium Academy. When the new courses are released on July 14, access to the modules hosted on Armatus will no longer be available. All Armatus users received an email invitation that day to create a Praesidium Academy account if they have not already.

“The task force is excited about this move as we believe the new experience will be far more user-friendly and will enhance personal learning,” Andrews said. “Praesidium continues to demonstrate creative leadership, adaptability, and expertise as we expand into online learning platforms and data management systems.”

Many dioceses will need to update policies and consider new training opportunities. The task force will announce dates soon for support webinars in July, August, and September.

For full information, including a schedule for the platform transition, visit https://www.episcopalchurch.org/safe-church/

(This article from the Episcopal Church website.)

Church of the Redeemer

Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. We are a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.