Safeguarding

Promoting a Safer Church

Our safeguarding policy for children young people is called "Safe to Grow."
Our safeguarding policy for vulnerable adults is called "Safe to Belong."

Aylestone Baptist Church's Safe to Grow Policy¹

As an expression of our love of Jesus Christ and a desire to serve our community and as members of this church, we commit ourselves to the nurture, protection and safe keeping of children and young people.²
We commit to treating all children and young people with respect and dignity. We will listen to them as valued members of the Church family.
We recognise that our work with children and young people is the responsibility of the whole church.
It is the responsibility of each one of us to guard against the physical, sexual and emotional abuse or neglect of children and young people in our care and take action over any concerns, as outlined overleaf.
The church has appointed as the Designated Person for Safeguarding: Annette Johnson
The Designated person will be the point of contact for all concerns regarding children and young people in the church and will act as the voice of the child in church life.
In addition to the procedure for responding to child abuse concerns, the church commits to follow guidelines for good practice. (Copies available from Annette Johnson, Jill Walton, or the church office)
All children’s workers will be appointed using Safe to Grow appointment procedures and must be fully familiar with this policy and the guidelines for good practice.
This policy will be reviewed and reaffirmed annually. This policy was last affirmed by the diaconate: 2022

Safe to Belong Vulnerable Adults Policy³

As an expression of our love of Jesus Christ and a desire to serve our community and as members of this church, we commit ourselves to the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and ensuring their wellbeing in the life of this church.
It is the responsibility of each of us to prevent the physical, emotional, sexual, financial and spiritual abuse of vulnerable adults and to report any such abuse that we discover or suspect.
We undertake to exercise proper care in the appointment and selection of those who will work with vulnerable adults
The church has appointed as The Designated Person for Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults: Wendy Hall
The Designated Person will be the point of contact for all concerns and will act as the voice of the vulnerable adult in church life.
This policy will be reviewed and reaffirmed annually. This policy was last affirmed by the diaconate: 2022

Notes:
A vulnerable adult is someone over 18yrs old who has:

a sensory or physical disability or impairment
a learning disability
a physical or mental illness including dementia
an addiction to alcohol or drugs

Or is:

Ageing or becoming unable, for whatever reason, to protect him/herself from significant harm or exploitation

A person may be vulnerable for only a short period of time.

[1] This policy has been derived from Safe to Grow: Guidelines on child protection for the local Church and its children’s and youth workers: Published by the Baptist Union of Great Britain, 2002.
[2] Young people are here defined as anyone below the age of 18 years.

[3] This policy has been derived from Safe to Belong: Guidelines on work for Vulnerable Adults in the local church Published by the Baptist Union of Great Britain, 2006.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

Welcome to ABC!

We're delighted you are considering visiting Aylestone Baptist Church. Whether you've been in church your whole life or this is your first time you've ever been in a church building, we want to make you feel welcome. We hope this information will help you know what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

Our church is located on Lutterworth Road, opposite Enterprise Van Rental. Our address is:
Aylestone Baptist Church
Lutterworth Road
Aylestone, LE2 8PE

We meet at the church building for our Sunday service starting at 10:30am. From 9:30am, our worship band is usually practising for the Sunday service.

Parking

We have a small car-park at our church, but it is often full by the time the service starts. You are also welcome to park in front of the church on Lutterworth Road or around the corner on Plantation Ave. On Sundays we are also allowed to park across the street at the car-park for Graham Goode Garage.

What to Expect

When you arrive on a Sunday morning, you will normally be greeted by a member of our welcome team. Feel free to ask them any questions. You'll enter the lounge, where tea and coffee are served after the service.

Toilets are located through the cloakroom in the lounge. There are two separate restrooms, and the one on the right is disabled-friendly and has a baby changing table. Additional toilets are located in the halls.

Feel free to sit at a table in the lounge until the service starts, or grab a seat in the church.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There are disabled toilets in the main foyer.

Our Service

The service begins promptly at 10:30am. Each week a different member of our congregation leads the service, with others in the congregation leading a prayer time or Bible reading. We will have notices and an offering, but what we love most is singing worship songs. The words to the songs will be on the screen, so feel free to sing along. Our music band usually has keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, and either saxophone, clarinet, or flute, as well as singers leading us. You might recognise some of the songs we sing if you listen to UCB or Premier Praise.

Our offering is a time for our church members to give to the church out of what God has blessed us with. If you're visiting, feel free to just pass the offering bag along when it comes your way. Many people give through online banking anyway and don't actually put anything in the offering bag, so you won't feel out of place.

After a time of singing, our minister or another speaker will give a talk on the Bible. The main Bible passage will be read during the service. It will be on the screen, but feel free to follow along in your Bible or Bible app. After the sermon, we will close the service with a song or two and a closing blessing.

Following the service, we serve tea, coffee and biscuits in the lounge, free of charge. This is a good time to meet people and ask any questions you have about the church. You can even ask questions about the sermon, find out about activities at the church, request prayer, or let someone know you're interested in Christianity.

What about my kids?

If you have creche-aged kids (usually aged 0-4), they are free to use our creche in the lounge. Please make sure your child is supervised. The lounge has a sound system and screen, so you won't miss what's happening in the service. There is a comfortable chair in the creche if you need to breastfeed, but there are also plenty of chairs in the lounge you can use as well. If you need anything, please just ask someone.

creche - Katelyn
School-aged children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and notices. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. During the service, the service leader will announce that it’s time for Junior Church to begin. A teacher will lead the children upstairs to the Junior Church area, and you are welcome to come with them if you want to check it out. Alternatively, your children are welcome to stay in the service with you. All our Junior Church teachers are DBS (background) checked and have been through safeguarding training.

Junior Church always has a Bible lesson and a prayer, and usually includes activities such as games, craft, drama, and discussion. The teachers will take the children back into the lounge or the service when it is finished.

Getting Connected

Check out the other areas of our website for more information on our church. Contact us using the contact details below, or come visit us on a Sunday morning to find out more.