Ahead of the Lambeth Call on Safe Church in April, Garth Blake, Chair of the Anglican Safe Church Commission and Mandy Marshall, Director of Gender Justice at the Anglican Communion, talk about the work of the Anglican Communion Safe Church Commission and why it is important.

The Lambeth Call on Safe Church came out of the Lambeth Conference. The bishops endorsed the Call, and it calls upon them and the provinces which they are from, clergy and lay leaders too, as well as the Instruments of Communion, make the churches of the Anglican Communion safe.

Garth explains that the role of the Safe Church Commission and Safeguarding in the church is to “fulfil the Gospel of Jesus Christ who, at the heart of his ministry, was protecting the vulnerable and to fulfil the mission of the church. We as a Communion need to act to ensure that all churches within the Communion are safe places for everyone.”

The Safe Church Commission equips churches across the Anglican Communion with tools – resources and guidelines – to be safe places of worship. Mandy said: “This is a huge international issue that affects every province. We all must deal with these issues, and we need to have the right policies, procedures, systems and processes in place with the right point people so that we’re able to handle safeguarding well when it’s disclosed and prevent it from happening in the first place.”

The Safe Church Commission is comprised of members from across the Anglican Communion. Members come from Brazil, Melanesia, Pakistan, South Africa and countries in between. Every region is represented and there are provincial representatives from each province. “This is important because no one’s area dominates,” said Mandy. She continued, “We are truly a cross-Communion Commission that is working together to produce guidelines and resources… We are very aware of the dynamics, and we make sure that every voice is heard.”

Garth hopes that April’s webinars on the Lambeth Call on Safe Church will energise those attending to progress the Lambeth Call and Safe Church guidelines in their setting. “Along with resources that the Safe Church Commission is producing, I am hoping that the webinar will help energise church leaders to take or continue the first steps that they are taking to make their churches safe,” he said.

Mandy hopes that through the Lambeth Call people will, “learn what is going on and learn about the work of the Safe Church Commission and how they can engage with the resources that we have.”