St. Mark’s adheres to the Child Safe Policies and Procedures of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. You can find links to those documents below.
Child Safe Policies in use at St. Mark’s
St Mark’s upholds the Safe Ministry policies of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne.
These policies can be found at:
www.melbourneanglican.org.au/making-your-parish-child-safe/
Code of Conduct for Child Safety and Wellbeing
Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
Child Safety and Wellbeing Reporting Procedure
PARTNERSHIPS
At St. Mark’s we have had close partnership with a number of NFP organisations and events.
These organisations provide wonderful services to our community and we are very proud to be part of their origins and /or continued support:
St Marks works closely with ECHO.
Emerald Centre for Hope & Outreach Inc. operating as ECHO Youth & Family Services is a Christian based, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping those young people who are struggling to find their place in this difficult world and with families who are beset with social, financial and other major difficulties. Working closely with local schools, ECHO offers a variety of programs that transform lives.
ECHO Inc. is a public benevolent institution, donations are tax deductible.
View the ECHO website at www.echo.org.au
FAMILY LIFE
St. Mark’s Sunday and Midweek programs for children 0 to 18.
Our programs are run by appropriately checked and trained adults who ensure the programs are not only fun, but safe for all.
As a Christian community, we affirm our commitment to ensuring the safety of each child who interacts with our community.
The Bible tells us that all people are created equal and every person can be a child of God. We look to the Bible to learn how to love and serve everyone no matter what their age, colour, ethnicity, gender or nationality. We specifically seek to promote the cultural safety of vulnerable people including indigenous children, all those children who come from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds and any child with a disability. You can read our Childsafe policies here.
To find out more about any of our Children’s programs or parenting courses, click on the group you are interested in below.
At St. Mark’s we celebrate and commemorate some of the major milestones of life in our ‘special services’ of baptisms, weddings and funerals. Here is some more information about having these services at our church for you or your family.
Baptism
Baptism (sometimes called “Christening”) is a symbol which marks entry into the Christian Church and our commitment to being a follower of Jesus throughout our lives.
Those who are going to be baptised make promises about their intention to follow Jesus and are then immersed in, or splashed with, water. As the words of the baptism service say:
Baptism with water signifies the cleansing from sin that Jesus’ death makes possible, and the new life that God gives us through the Holy Spirit. In baptism, the promises of God are visibly signed and sealed for us. We are joined to Christ, and made members of his body, the Church universal.
Our baptisms are conducted during one of our normal Sunday worship services, as baptism involves welcoming someone into the life of the church community.
As an Anglican church, we baptise adults who wish to affirm their faith, and also the children of Christian families. Regarding children, the baptism service says:
Children are baptised in response to God’s all-embracing love. Parents and godparents who have responded to that love come now to bring their child for baptism. Before this congregation they must express their own trust and commitment to the promises of God, and their intention to bring up their child in the faith and practice of the Church.
If you would like to get baptised or have your child baptised, please contact our church office (5968 4046, info@stmarksemerald.org.au). A staff member will then contact you and ask you to answer a few initial questions about your background and reasons for seeking baptism, and then ask you to attend one of our services to get a sense of what our church is like. Then we will set up an interview with one of our ministers to discuss and plan your baptism service.
Weddings
Marriage is a commitment with great significance for ourselves, our community and our understanding of the character of God. Those who are seeking a Christian wedding in the beautiful setting of the town of Emerald are welcome to come to St. Mark’s, as our ministers are authorised religious celebrants.
Our services include the promises and vows of the Anglican wedding service, reflections from the Bible on the meaning and purpose of marriage, and opportunities for songs or other personal celebrations of your relationship.
All marriages have legal requirements for the notification of the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages which we will assist you to fulfil. We also ask all couples seeking a wedding at St. Mark’s to enter into a marriage preparation course with our minister that will help you to reflect on this new stage of your relationship.
If you would like to have your wedding at St. Mark’s, please contact our church office (5968 4046, info@stmarksemerald.org.au) to discuss the details and your requirements.
Funerals
A Christian funeral expresses our hope in the resurrection of believers to eternal life with Jesus Christ, and is a celebration of life and our memories of those who have died.
We welcome requests for our ministers to conduct funeral services at St. Mark’s.
It is best to ask your funeral director to contact us with your request and information about the arrangements for the funeral service.
POLICIES
Listed on this web page are the various policies of St Mark’s church. Click on the policy you wish to review or download.
Why these policies have been published in this way
The reasons are as follows:
Firstly they are easily accessed by the members of St Mark’s and those considering becoming members.
Secondly, making the policies easily and widely available helps to hold the St Mark’s leadership (staff, Parish Council and Wardens) accountable to the policies and to the people of St Mark’s.
Thirdly, policies’ being readily available improves communication within the church.
Policies Reviews:
Parish Council review all policies on an annual basis.
P-001 St Marks Incident Protocol Process
P-002 St Marks Documentation Policy
P-003 St Marks Working with Children_Police Check
P-004 Non-compliance to policy and procedure
P-005 Policy related to the Memorial Garden
P-006 Property Repairs and Maintenance Policy
P-007 Social Media and Digital Communication Guidelines
P-009 Financial Control Policy and Procedures
P-010 St Marks OHS Policy – May 2017
P-012 Fire Danger Rating Policy