Protecting Our Children From Sexual Predators
Are we feeding our lambs to the wolves? Do you ever stop to think about how secured is the children's ministry in your church?If you had something to do that would only take an hour, would you leave your child with a convicted child molester to look after him or her while you run your errand? Are we feeding our lambs to the wolves? Do you ever stop to think about how secured is the children's ministry in your church? If you had something to do that would only take an hour, would you leave your child with a convicted child molester to look after him or her while you ran your errand? The answer clearly is no.
However, children are left with strangers on a weekly basis as the parents worship in their church.
We automatically assume that our children will be safe if we are inside a church; after all, it is a sanctuary and we do not think of church safety as a necessity.
Unfortunately, the fact is that the majority of churches in the United States do not conduct simple background checks on the volunteers that watch over our children while we worship.
According to a website dedicated to posting articles of sexual abuse by church members, there have been approximately 838 cases of "reported" sexual abuse within a house of worship.
This statistic does not include the thousands of reported cases associated with the Catholic Church.
Most astonishing is the fact that authorities believe only a small percentage of sexual abuse cases get reported to law enforcement.
Armed with this staggering statistic, we as Christian parents should demand that our churches conduct and require background checks for all church members working with or around children.
These background checks are fairly inexpensive and should be automatic for every church that provides child care.
There are also some very basic, common sense precautions that can be implemented to reduce the risk of harm to children as well as to reduce the church's liability.
These church safety precautions range from inexpensive concepts such as allowing visual access to all rooms occupied by children, using rooms with large windows for general observation as nursery and toddler rooms, using a minimum of two adults (three preferred) at all times with children, using female volunteers to escort children to the restroom, using continual supervision for monitoring all programs, developing a handbook and obtaining signed agreements from volunteers.
There are also more mechanical safety precautions; such as posting security personnel if the facility is isolated from the general congregation, using a communication system, security cameras and proxy cards.
These simple church safety precautions can deter a sexual offender from preying on your children.
Church safety and security should involve a "common sense" approach.
The training program should be professional and experience-basedfor all church safety and security teams regardless of church size, without losing focus on the need for evangelizing.
It is important to remember that not all churches are alike and a customized consultation that meets your church's specific security and safety needs is highly recommended.
The above mentioned articles on sexual abuse by church members can be found at www.
reformation.
com
However, children are left with strangers on a weekly basis as the parents worship in their church.
We automatically assume that our children will be safe if we are inside a church; after all, it is a sanctuary and we do not think of church safety as a necessity.
Unfortunately, the fact is that the majority of churches in the United States do not conduct simple background checks on the volunteers that watch over our children while we worship.
According to a website dedicated to posting articles of sexual abuse by church members, there have been approximately 838 cases of "reported" sexual abuse within a house of worship.
This statistic does not include the thousands of reported cases associated with the Catholic Church.
Most astonishing is the fact that authorities believe only a small percentage of sexual abuse cases get reported to law enforcement.
Armed with this staggering statistic, we as Christian parents should demand that our churches conduct and require background checks for all church members working with or around children.
These background checks are fairly inexpensive and should be automatic for every church that provides child care.
There are also some very basic, common sense precautions that can be implemented to reduce the risk of harm to children as well as to reduce the church's liability.
These church safety precautions range from inexpensive concepts such as allowing visual access to all rooms occupied by children, using rooms with large windows for general observation as nursery and toddler rooms, using a minimum of two adults (three preferred) at all times with children, using female volunteers to escort children to the restroom, using continual supervision for monitoring all programs, developing a handbook and obtaining signed agreements from volunteers.
There are also more mechanical safety precautions; such as posting security personnel if the facility is isolated from the general congregation, using a communication system, security cameras and proxy cards.
These simple church safety precautions can deter a sexual offender from preying on your children.
Church safety and security should involve a "common sense" approach.
The training program should be professional and experience-basedfor all church safety and security teams regardless of church size, without losing focus on the need for evangelizing.
It is important to remember that not all churches are alike and a customized consultation that meets your church's specific security and safety needs is highly recommended.
The above mentioned articles on sexual abuse by church members can be found at www.
reformation.
com