Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church believes that all persons are whole in God’s kin-dom (kingdom) and should have opportunity to worship, learn, and serve in various capacities to ensure growth. We seek to provide an environment that is physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually safe for all persons who enter our doors, specifically Children, Youth, Vulnerable Persons, and Older Adults.
We seek to create and provide a safe and brave environment in which opportunities for abuse are minimized through screening and supervision of all who work with Children, Youth, Vulnerable Persons, and Older Adults, as well as anyone who comes on to HPCUMC’s campus to participate in the ministries of the church. As a part of the greater United Methodist Church, we commit to being a Safe Sanctuaries congregation where we can responsibly work with all people in their faith for a life devoted to sharing the love of God with all.
We adopt this policy in accordance with the statement that we as a congregation make at each baptism— that we will, “nurture children and youth in the Christian faith and life and include them in our care.” With this Safe Sanctuaries policy, we renew our baptismal pledge to, “live according to the example of Christ” and surround children, youth, and other vulnerable people with a “community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in their trust of God, and be thus confirmed and strengthened in the way that leads to life eternal” (Baptismal Covenant II,United Methodist Book of Worship, p.96).
