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Getting Started: Uploading Your Church Policy

Summary

Add your church's safeguarding policy documents to Safe Pathways so volunteers can review and acknowledge them — all from one place.

The Church Policy section lets you upload your official policy documents (e.g., your Safe Church Policy, Code of Conduct, or Vulnerable Persons Policy) and define the acknowledgement statements volunteers must agree to before completing their onboarding.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following ready before uploading:

  • Your policy document(s) in PDF or Word (.docx) format
  • Admin access to your Safe Pathways account
  • Any custom acknowledgement language your leadership or legal team has approved (optional — you can also use our provided samples)

⚠️  Permission required

Only users with an Admin role can upload policy documents and edit acknowledgement statements. If you do not see the options described below, contact your church's Safe Pathways administrator.

Steps to Uploading Your Church Policy on Safe Pathways

1. Upload your policy documents

Navigate to the policy upload area and add your documents:

  1. From your Admin dashboard, go to Settings in the left-hand navigation menu.
  2. Select the Policies tab.
  3. In the Church Policies section, click Add
  4. Select your file from your device. Accepted formats: PDF and .docx. Maximum file size: 20 MB per document.
  5. Once uploaded, the document name will appear in the list. You can upload multiple documents by repeating this step — for example, uploading both a Safe Church Policy and a separate Code of Conduct.
  6. To remove a document, click the delete icon next to its name.

💡 Tip

 Give each document a clear, recognizable file name before uploading (e.g., Safe-Church-Policy-2024.pdf). This is the name volunteers will see when they are asked to review the document.

2. Set acknowledgement statements

Acknowledgement statements are the declarations volunteers must read and agree to as part of their onboarding. You can write your own custom statements or use the pre-written samples provided by Safe Pathways.

To add a custom acknowledgement statement:
  1. Scroll down to the Policy Acknowledgement section on the Policies page.
  2. Click Add Policy Question
  3. Add the Question # and type your Policy Question in the text field provided. Statements should be clear, direct, and written in the first person (e.g., "I have read and agree to follow the Safe Church Policy.").
  4. Click the checkmark button to save changes.
  5. Repeat to add additional questions. You can add as many as your church requires.
  6. To delete a statement, click the delete icon on the right.
  7. To edit a statement, click the pencil icon by the question you want to edit.

3. Use the Load Samples option

Not sure where to start? Safe Pathways provides four ready-to-use sample statements drawn from best-practice safeguarding frameworks. These cover policy agreement, the Rule of Two, Authorized Adult status, and supervision ratios — the core commitments most Canadian churches require. Use them as-is or customize them to fit your church's specific language.

  1. In the Acknowledgement Statements section, click the Load Samples button.
  2. The four default statements will populate automatically: policy agreement, Rule of Two, Authorized Adult requirements, and supervision ratios.
  3. Review each statement. Edit, remove, or reorder them to fit your church's language and policy requirements.

⚠️ Heads Up

Clicking Load Samples will replace any statements you have already entered with the sample set. Make sure to copy any custom statements you want to keep before loading samples.

Frequently Asked Questions

What file formats are accepted for policy documents?

Safe Pathways currently accepts PDF (.pdf) and Word (.docx) files. Each file must be no larger than 20 MB. If your document is in another format (e.g., Google Docs or Pages), export it as a PDF before uploading.

Can I upload more than one policy document?

Yes. You can upload multiple documents — for example, a Safe Church Policy, a Code of Conduct, and a Vulnerable Persons Policy as separate files. Volunteers will be asked to review all uploaded documents before acknowledging.

Can I customize the sample acknowledgement statements?

The sample statements are a starting point provided by Safe Pathways. After loading them, you can edit, delete, reorder, or add to them freely. The four defaults cover policy agreement, the Rule of Two, Authorized Adult status, and supervision ratios — edit the wording to reflect your church's specific policies and language.

What happens if a volunteer does not acknowledge the policy?

Volunteers are required to acknowledge all policy statements before they can complete their onboarding profile. Until all statements are checked, their profile will show as incomplete and they will not appear as cleared to serve.