Built And Watched By The Lord: Children and Security
By: Everett Hornbostel
Children and youth are precious members of society and churches most typically have ministries that are geared toward reaching these groups. These groups also happen to be the most preyed upon in both the church and the world. Family issues at home can lead kids and teens into vulnerable states which predators seek out. Because this vulnerability travels with them, the church ought to provide due diligence in protecting children and youth. How can the church fulfill this role? Simply put, policies. Any policies should be discussed with and reviewed by an attorney prior to implementation.
One policy that ought to be in place is that of background checks for all volunteers and church staff that will interact with children and/or youth. Even if there is the slightest potential that a volunteer or church staff member will have an interaction with a child or youth, they ought to go through a background check. Background checks should also be updated periodically. The Dakota Baptist Convention works with Ministry Safe for background checks and training for volunteers and staff so they can know what signs of potential abuse to look for.
Churches need to have a sexual misconduct policy. The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions has provided a document for Baptist churches in the state to assist them in providing protection for children and youth. In this document, the Board states; “Every church should plan to do what is best for preschoolers, children, and youth at church and in church-sponsored activities. These are their suggested guidelines: 1) A sexual misconduct policy regarding working with preschoolers, children or youth should consider the following: a) Leadership responsibilities with preschoolers, children, and youth are best carried out by adult members of the church. b) A six-month rule should apply to all. A person should not work with minors until he/she has been a member of the church at least six months. Most pedophiles do not want to wait that long. They want immediate access to children. c) These policies should be applied to those requested by the church to drive vehicles transporting minors. 2) A screening procedure should be conducted for both paid and volunteer workers. This screening should include an application, an interview, and a child abuse/neglect report from DHR. A criminal background check should be required of paid workers and may be required for volunteers” (Alabama Baptist Convention State Board of Missions, 2015).
The church can research and implement a procedure for checking in and out children from the children’s area. Some of these programs include a barcode assigned to a child and the responsible parent(s) receive a card that contains the barcode. With this type of system, only the person with the card can pick up the child.
A method for properly securing children can be a card that is pinned to the back of a child’s shirt. The card contains the responsible parent’s name and who is allowed to pick the child up from the children’s department. The responsible parent’s cell phone number is also included in the information.
Training, training, and more training. Everyone involved in either paid ministry or volunteer ministry ought to be properly trained in child protection. These individuals need to be trained to know what signs to look for in determining if a child or youth is being groomed for exploitation. They should understand their role as a mandated reporter and then take steps to report anything that is out of the ordinary. Our Taekwondo ministry operates under a concept of “Train more, fear less.” If we train more, we are less likely to make errors out of fear.
If you have questions about church security, please reach out to me at everett@dakotabaptist.com.