Kids Ministry Exectations and Responses

All children are welcome at Essendon Baptist Community Church, we believe that they are important to God and that we are called to help take care of them. We aim to partner with parents/carers to help disciple their children to be followers of Jesus. Jesus himself made it very clear that children were important and that no-one should hinder them in Matthew 19:14, in fact he went as far as to say that adults should learn from children when it came to having faith in Luke 18:17.

We aim to be an inclusive, safe and loving place where children can thrive as they grow up learning the bible, making friends and worshiping God together.

We strive to be a SAFE and welcoming place. All of the leaders and helpers in the programs with children hold current working with children checks and are trained and inducted in order to be able to safely lead and help in our programs. The Child Safe Standards outlined here for Victoria https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/ are followed at EBCC and we aim to always uphold these standards and to keep up to date with changes that occur.

Below is a tool for children, families and leaders to use that outlines some expectations for those in our programs with children. The traffic light colours are used to assist children and leaders to have clear expectations and to be able to safely follow them. This system aims to include children and their parents/carers in their participation in the programs so that they can get the most out of their time at EBCC. We believe that parents/caregivers are the best people to assist their children to participate when a child is having difficulty, with the support and encouragement of the leaders. This helps to maintain positive relationships between leaders and the children and families they serve. This also helps to protect both the children and the leaders.

Please talk to the Pastor for Families with Children, Sally Danger if you would like more information or to discuss this further.

Sally Danger

sally.danger@essendonbaptist.org.au