Safe Church, Safe Communities

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church strives to adhere to all Safe Church policies of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia and the Episcopal Church of the United States with regard to providing a safe, protected environment for children, youth, and adults of all ages. The guiding principle of Safe Church is to protect the vulnerable and offer the opportunity for us, as Episcopalians, to be good neighbors to one another.

Safe Church, Safe Communities provides new and updated training modules for clergy, laity, and parish staff. These resources give dioceses and parishes across the church the tools necessary to ensure that the most vulnerable among us find an Episcopal Church community of faith that is welcoming and safe. At the heart of this work is the goal that all Episcopal parishes and dioceses be holy and safe places, communities from which we join to build a church that looks and acts like Jesus, where all are welcome and included.

If you have any questions about Safe Church policies or to report suspected misconduct by a member of the laity, please email the Rector or Senior Warden via the Parish Office at ststephensforest@mail.com; please use the subject line “Confidential: Rector/Senior Warden.”

Click here to download a copy of the policy for the protection of children and youth.

Click here to download a copy of the policy for the protection of adults.

Clergy Discipline: Title IV

Clergy discipline in The Episcopal Church is addressed under a church-wide structure of canon law commonly known as “Title IV.” Title IV details the grounds and processes for ecclesiastical discipline in the Church, and its focus is to address claims that clergy may have engaged in conduct constituting an offense under the Canons. In the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia, discipline of priests and deacons is addressed by this process and involves both the Diocesan Disciplinary Board and the Diocesan Bishop. Suspected misconduct of Episcopal priests and deacons in Southwestern Virginia may be reported to one of the two available diocesan Intake Officers: Canon Pattie Ames (email: pames@dioswva.org / confidential cell: (434) 328-4303); or The Rev. Paul Hicks (email: frpaul@stjohnswytheville.org / confidential cell: (276) 524-2477).