Safeguarding Sunday 2026

Readings

• Matthew 18:1-6
• 1 Corinthians 13

Sermon

Safeguarding Sunday is a day when churches across the UK, of all different styles and denominations, are encouraged to think about, preach about, and pray about good safeguarding culture in each context.

Safeguarding Sunday could be a discussion on good practice. We could talk about making sure that policies, procedures and training are all up to date. It could be a time of lament where, as a church, we reflect on the evil that some children and vulnerable adults have been subjected to by the church. It could be a time of giving concrete assurance that disclosures will be listened to and robustly acted upon. It could be a time where parish safeguarding officers encourage their congregation to consider the safeguarding culture in their church and how this relates to their role. And each of these areas are of paramount importance and you may well choose to discuss these as part of your service today, after the service or at your next church council. Today though, I want us to think about the theological importance of why we should want the very best safeguarding arrangements in our churches because as Christians we should never see good safeguarding practice as a secular requirement but instead we should always see it as a call from God. We should always see safeguarding as a core part of our discipleship and something which is deeply Biblical even if we may use a different language to express this divine mandate.

31:8 have produced a guide for Safeguarding Sunday which you can find easily online. The key theological principle which it has chosen as its theme for this year is that, ‘love protects’, based on 1 Corinthians 13. Within this, 31:8 teach that safeguarding isn’t an external pressure or ‘thing to do’, but instead it is an act of love. It goes on to remind us that love is central to our faith. With this in mind, as you read this part of the Bible again, try reading it from a safeguarding point of view instead because when we do, what becomes apparent very quickly is that love protects ‘always’. It doesn’t just protect sometimes. It doesn’t just protect when it’s convenient. It doesn’t just protect when it’s easy to protect or only protect some people. Love always protects and when we understand this it has huge implications for our approach to, and understanding of, safeguarding
because good safeguarding practice becomes something which God
expects us to always do.

And so, as we bring this Biblical mandate to the front of our mind then we need to tie this in with the idea that God is love and therefore, God always protects. Therefore, this isn’t just something we are expected to do alone but something God which does first – he is our example in this. Our Bible teaches us that we are also called to love one another as God loves us and therefore protection isn’t something we can bat off to God but is somethingwe are called to also live out in our lives and live out as disciples. Again, with this being a theological mandate this has huge implications for our approach to safeguarding both individually and collectively.

I always preach at weddings about how love isn’t something gushy, sentimental and saccharine but instead is something which has the power to change the world and the reason I do this is to encourage those at the
wedding to see love as something active. Love should never be passive but instead something that should find its core in the love of God which is powerful and eternal. Love demands that we get up from out comfort
zones and stands up to injustice. Love demands that we go out into the world building communities. Love demands that we go out into the world to be co-workers in building the Kingdom of God. And the reason for
mentioning this is that theology isn’t passive either and so when we see ‘love protects’ as something theological, something Biblical, this should never become an academic exercise but something which transforms us and our understanding of what safeguarding is. It should be something which makes us want to do something. It should be something which makes us want to ensure that the very best safeguarding culture and practice is embedded in every aspect of our church life. Through this transformation every one of us should become people who want to protect because it is at the core of God’s call on our lives.

Biblical, Godly, active love underpins this idea of protection and because of this needs to underpin our approach to safeguarding. On this safeguarding Sunday may each one of us reflect on the continued divine call on our lives to each take our part in ensuring excellent safeguarding in our churches and know this to be part of our discipleship journey.

Questions:

1. What personal commitment can you make to ensure your church has excellent safeguarding practice?
2. Where else in the Bible can you find examples of the theological imperative for excellent safeguarding practice?
3. What implications does the idea of safeguarding being a divine mandate have on your own discipleship?