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December 2023 SMR News
Welcome to the December Newsletter!
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- Season's Greetings
- For the holidays: Website review and Child Safe Assessment tool
- Face to face training
- SMR Zoom 101 Workshops
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Season's Greetings
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Thank you to everyone who has been in contact with me since I commenced in August either to ask a question, send in examples of where their church is meeting the Child Safe Standards or to welcome me.
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The best way to contact me is by email ros@safeministry.org.au either to ask a question or to request a call to discuss safe ministry.
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I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Christmas season full of joy as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
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'The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
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'In those days and at that time
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I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.
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In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.
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This is the name by which it will be called:
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The LORD Our Righteous Saviour.'
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For the holidays
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Now is a good a time as any to review your church’s website. We have many who visit our churches at Christmas time and their first knowledge of the church comes as they search for information about your church on the internet.
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Make sure they get a clear message about your church’s commitment to Safe Ministry.
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- You are highlighting the importance of Safe Ministry in your church
- You are demonstrating an indicator of Child Safe Standard 1 – Child safety is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture
- It can act as a deterrent to those looking for a soft target
- It can be comforting to our visitors to know your church takes the safety of their children seriously
Check out some other churches' websites for ideas.
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Complete the Child Safe Self-Assessment Tool
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The Child Safe Self-Assessment tool (developed by the Office of the Children’s Guardian) is a free online resource which generates a personalised Assessment and Action Report.
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The report highlights which of the Child Safe Standards are the strongest performing and which are focus areas to guide you in developing a plan for improving your Safe Ministry practices.
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Face to face training
Face to face training events 2024
The following are the planned dates for Face to Face training in 2024.
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Locations will be confirmed closer to each date.
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Saturday 17 February 2024
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Saturday 16 November 2024
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Course enrolments open 4-5 weeks prior to the event
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Course enrolments close 48hrs prior to the event
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Please encourage those in your church who would benefit from face to face training to enrol, once enrolments open - and be prepared to assist them if necessary with the technology.
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- Applicants for face to face training need to have an account on the Safe Ministry Training website, log in and enrol in the course.
- Once they complete the course, they will be emailed their certificate a day or so later, and a copy of their certificate details sent to you, their SMR.
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New and new-ish Safe Ministry Reps - Zoom Workshops
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The next SMR 101 Zoom workshops will happen in February/March 2024.
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If you are new (or new-ish) to the role of SMR, then invest an hour in this workshop and reap the benefits!
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No booking or rego required - just boot up your device at the right time and click the appropriate link below. Have your questions and a notebook ready!
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Two days/times - identical content.
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- Thursday February 29th @ 10:00am
- Wednesday March 6th @ 07:30pm
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SMR Facebook Group
A reminder that we have a private Facebook group just for SMR's
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- A safe and private place for SMR's to ask questions, support each other, share ideas or solutions to problems, etc
- The address is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173114257798286
- Involvement in this group is entirely optional - but it is proving to be a useful extra channel for SMR's to chat amongst themselves and pose questions.
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Keeping up to date with news
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An archive of all SMR Newsletters (since we moved to our new system) is available here.
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That's it for this edition! Back soon with more info about what is happening in the Safe Ministry scene.
If you are no longer the SMR for your church, please unsubscribe using the link below and drop me an email to let me know.
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