Protected Adult Policy

Promoting a safer church

Introduction

We must pay particular attention to the protection of vulnerable adults who interact formally with the members of Christ Church Queensferry for the honour of God’s name.
This policy is designed to cover members of Christ Church Queensferry who have been asked to provide pastoral support. It must be reviewed if our care offering changes significantly.
The policy sets out:
- How we will act to protect vulnerable adults who receive pastoral support from Christ Church Queensferry.
- How we will respond to a disclosure of alleged abuse or critical welfare concern.

Providing Pastoral Support

In law, a wide category of vulnerable people are classified as Protected Adults (for example, elderly, infirm, mentally ill, disabled, abused) and anyone undertaking Regulated Work (formal, regular contact as a part of a defined role with an organisation in a number of categories including counselling) with such adults requires a PVG check first be undertaken. The Church of Scotland have prepared a helpful summary here.
We understand that our members and Elders may also find themselves conducting Regulated Work with Protected Adults as a part of their normal responsibilities within the church and therefore require all such members and Elders to have an adult-PVG.
We understand that our pastoral support falls into the category of Regulated Work and anticipate we may engage with Protected Adults through it and therefore require all who provide pastoral support to have an adult-PVG before beginning to serve.
In addition, we also require all such individuals to:
- Have read and accepted this policy
- Have been specifically endorsed by a Christ Church Queensferry elder for this role.
Where formal counselling or similar work is to be undertaken 1:1 it will be done so with transparency and the knowledge of the Elders.
Church members will only meet with others for formal support when asked to do so by the Elders.
Church members will regularly review their active support contacts with the Elders to report progress and any concerns.

Responding to a Disclosure of Alleged Abuse

We acknowledge and embrace our legal duty to refer all incidents of concern to the appropriate authorities. We will assist and cooperate fully with any investigation carried out by relevant external authorities.
On hearing a disclosure of abuse, the member or Elder should take time to listen to the disclosure, avoiding any leading comments or judgements. The circumstances and content of the disclosure are to be documented as soon as possible using the discloser’s language and avoiding statements of opinion.
The documented disclosure is passed to one of the Safeguarding Coordinators as soon as possible who, if warranted, will make a referral to the appropriate external authorities. If the disclosure relates to a Safeguarding Coordinator, it will be passed to another Elder who is not related to the disclosure.
The Safeguarding Coordinators are the elders. The elders can be found here and you can contact them here.

Responding to a Critical Welfare Concern

We define a critical welfare concern as a situation where, in the member or Elder’s opinion, the person in question is at serious risk of physical or mental harm.
In such cases, this should immediately be documented and escalated to the Elders and/or the Safeguarding Coordinator or directly to 999 emergency services if time critical.
Concerns which are not critical should still be raised by members of the church to the elders at the earliest opportunity.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and plan your visit.
Please click here.

Planning your Visit

Hello!

The following information will help you plan your first visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday. Below you'll find information about our location, parking options, accessibility, the format of our meetings and what we have on for children and babies.

If we have missed anything, just let us know by using the form at the bottom of this page.

Where and When

We meet at Rosebery Hall, 17 West Terrace, South Queensferry, EH30 9LL for our Sunday Service which starts at 2:30pm.

For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you find somewhere to park and find somewhere to sit before the service begins.

When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be wearing a Welcome lanyard. If you have kids with you, the Welcome Team can tell you about our crèche and Sunday School.

Plan your journey

Here is a link where you can open Google Maps. Find our exact location using what3words: oblige.backswing.fallen

Parking

The building itself has no parking. There is free parking on Morison Gardens, Station Road and The Binks. Scotmid also has free parking but only for 2 hours so be careful to avoid a ticket!

Public Transport

We're on the Edinburgh side of the Forth Bridge so our nearest train station is Dalmeny. It is a 15-minute walk to our church building from the train station. The number 43 bus will bring you from Edinburgh almost to our church building. Ask to get off on 'The Loan' and head down the hill.

Accessibility

There is wheelchair access to the rear of the building (accessed via the flats at the bottom of The Loan). We have a ramp set out each Sunday and someone from the Welcome Team is always standing by to assist. As you come along the corridor you'll find accessible toilets on your left. From there you'll enter the main corridor and our meeting room is only a few metres away. We have moveable seating rather than pews and we have plenty of space for wheel chairs.

If there is something we can do to improve access for you, please let us know. We want to make our church as accessible as we can because we want everyone to feel welcome.

Our Service

The service begins at 2:30pm with a warm welcome from the person leading the service. The service includes different aspects: songs (led by our musicians), prayers, Bible readings, as well as news and notices being shared.

One of our leaders will then give a talk based on a passage from the Bible. The talk will help us understand what the passage meant for the original hearers and us now, how it points to Jesus Christ, and how it applies to our everyday life. We then finish with a final song.

At least once a month we also take the Lord's Supper together. This is offered to all members who are in good standing with their church family and who aren't living in unrepentant sin. Visitors who belong to other gospel-preaching churches where they are in good standing, not living in unrepentant sin and where they'd normally take the Lord's Supper, are also welcome to participate. Everyone else is welcome to observe what is happening.

At the end of the service there is always someone around to talk with you about what you have heard or about anything else that you want to talk about!

What about my kids?

We have a great programme lined up for kids:

Crèche (0 months to 3 years).
Sunday School (3 years to the end of Primary 7).

Children under 3 years old can be dropped off at crèche before the service begins. In crèche the children get a snack. Please let the crèche leader know if your child has any dietary requirements and please make sure you pack a water bottle for them to use during this time.

Children over 3 years old stay with their parent or grown-up for the first part of the service. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. Part way through the service someone will announce that it’s time for Sunday School. If it is your first Sunday you will need to go with your children to register them as part of our child safety policy. Even if you come regularly you still need to take the children to Sunday School to sign them in.

In Sunday School there is a friendly welcome, bible stories and lessons, praying, music, craft, drama and fun games. Please remember to pick your children up when the service finishes!

Nursing Mums' Room
If you would like somewhere discreet to feed your little one or you just need to settle them, we have a room specifically set aside for this near our main meeting hall. Just ask one of Welcome Team to show you the way.

You'll find baby changing facilities in the accessible toilet which is just off the main corridor.

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel very welcome when you visit!