Was this church leader's comment to my 12-year-old inappropriate?

[Noelle101]

Hey guys, I’m not religious but I’ve been caring for my niece who asked me to take her to church and I’m asking if this is normal

my niece is 12.

She told me during Sundays school they were told to draw who they want to be when they grow up. Kids drew pop star, footballer etc

my niece drew an actress. (She loves drama and wants to be an actress when she grows up)

When church leader asked, she said actress.

this woman then says “so you’ll get naked if they ask you to?”

am I right to find this comment very odd and inappropriate?

she also didn’t ask any other kids this kind of question, including kids who drew pop star and model

Look on your local authority website. See what it says about reporting a safeguarding concern. There will be a number available that you can call.

This is it

www.philadelphiachurch.co.uk/en/about-en

It’s this church

https://www.philadelphiachurch.co.uk/en/

How Safeguarding Works for Other Denominations
If you are looking into an independent or non-Anglican church (such as Philadelphia Church International), they do not report to the Anglican Diocese. Instead, they handle safeguarding through other channels:

• Independent Frameworks: Non-denominational and independent churches must legally write and enforce their own safeguarding policies to maintain registered charity status with the UK Charity Commission. 1, 2]
• Specialist Advisors: Many independent churches outsource their training, criminal record (DBS) checks, and policy audits to specialized Christian safeguarding charities, most notably Thirtyone:eight (formerly the Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service). 1, 2]
• Denominational Bodies: Other major groups have their own central teams (e.g., the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency or the Baptist Union safeguarding team).

There are a couple of links in the stuff I just posted that could be helpful. Not sure why it's highlighted the diocesan info when I did include that it's not an Anglican church in my search.

The website for the church is interesting. Nothing at all about belonging to a network or connection with anyone, and no safeguarding policy which seems to be compulsory from what I read online.

You should ring the safeguarding team at essex council. They will know whether to report to police or not.

eycp.essex.gov.uk/safeguarding/request-support-or-report-a-concern-about-a-child/

I see they are a registered charity too

https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/3980452/trustees

It says on the charity page that they have a safeguarding policy...

saw this after I posted this.

i don’t know what that safeguarding policy is because all these trustees listed (one of them is the pastor) called my niece a liar when I spoke to them.

when I asked who the safeguarding person is they said it’s them?

that woman I spoke to who told me that story about her daughter said the same thing. They even threatened her/laughed at her

i also got an email reply from them today and the safeguarding person is someone very close to the pastor (pastor who had long private meetings with my niece without my knowledge) and also the church leader who said this to my niece.

It’s also the same person who said my niece is lying and “our church leaders would never do this”

what do you do in this case? Who do you report this to?

Essex Council safeguarding like i said previously.

Thank you

Thank you