Local Safe Ministry Online Assistant

With many aspects of safe ministry training now online, churches are encouraged to have a Local Safe Ministry Online Assistant (Online Assistant).

Their role is to assist those who would like to do online or face-to-face training but may lack the ability to access the internet, or require assistance to:

  • create a Safe Ministry Training account,
  • enrol and pay for online or face-to-face training,
  • navigate through the online course, or
  • participate in the online webinar.

The role is managed in the local church and is an important way to enable and support leaders as they enrol in or complete safe ministry training.

It is ideal that there is one Online Assistant in each church and this role is well communicated to leaders so they know where they can receive assistance in accessing training.

The Office of the Director of Safe Ministry (Safe Ministry Team) will provide ongoing support to Online Assistants, primarily via the support ticket system.

The Online Assistant is appointed by the Senior Minister, and is an entirely local appointment, requiring no paperwork or notifying of the Office of Safe Ministry.

You will find below some FAQ’s about Online Assistants – more information is also available in our Knowledge Base

While anyone can contact the Safe Ministry Team for assistance via the support ticket system, help is often much more effective for people (especially those who lack confidence using technology) when it is provided by someone local to them and known by them.

A suitable person would be anyone in your church who is committed to Safe Ministry.

They should have a basic understanding of computers and feel comfortable using the internet, e.g., anyone who uses a computer on a regular basis and has purchased goods online, would be well suited for this role.

The Safe Ministry Team will also provide ongoing support to Online Assistants, primarily via the support ticket system.

Yes this is absolutely fine and we greatly appreciate you taking on both roles.

The Online Assistant reports to the Safe Ministry Representative in the local church and so they may be involved in the selection, recruitment and appointment on the Senior Minister’s behalf. However, the Senior Minister will need to be involved in the decision.

As it is an entirely local appointment, it requires no paperwork or notifying of the Safe Ministry Team.

Training for the Online Assistant role can happen at any time as we have the training video and resources on this page.

The Safe Ministry Team are also available via the support ticket system to assist Online Assistants as they help people with aspects of their training (particularly creating an online account, enrolling in face-to-face or online training or participating in an online webinar).

It may be that participants meet in a public place such as coffee shop that has wireless internet or a library, or it might be in a person’s home. However, it is important that in any situation Safe Ministry practices are implemented.

The Online Assistant role is not a training role in any capacity.
Their primary purpose is to help participants with the online nature of the system, e.g., navigate the enrolment process, become familiar with the online course layout, book into/attend the webinar or assist participants to retrieve their certificate.

Many of the people that Online Assistants will be asked to help will be older people or people with some disabilities.

Here are a few suggestions to help smooth the path for such people wanting to do online training:

  • If someone struggles with technology, it may be better to avoid doing the training on a device with a smaller screen (like an iPad).
  • For a better experience with such people, we recommend using either a desktop or laptop computer – ideally with a LARGE screen or plugged into an external monitor to make viewing more comfortable.
  • Consider having a morning at one location with internet where two or three devices can be set up for individuals to use as they do the training at the same time, with an Online Assistant overseeing the session. Tip – ensure participants have headphones so that they can view videos/participate in the webinar without disturbing others.
  • If you are experiencing unreliable internet, try and arrange to have the device connected by cable to the router rather than Wi-Fi.
    Wi-Fi is great for email and browsing the web, but was never designed for more serious usage (with some rare exceptions).
  • Where you assist a group of people to complete the webinar together, ensure each person is individually registered and logged into the webinar on their own device (see this article for more information)

More articles to help Online Assistants are available in our Knowledge Base

The administration of our site requires all users to have a unique email address to create an account and enrol in a course. However, we realise that some couples share a single email address and other individuals may not have an email address or own a computer, but need to register on the site for face-to-face training.

Please read this article for a simple approach which may help, especially for churches assisting those without a computer/internet or email address of their own.

Training Webinars


If you are interested in becoming an Online Assistant, we have a recording of the webinar originally conducted on September 19th 2017.

‘Online Assistant Information Webinar’

‘Online Assistant Information Webinar’