When dealing with sexual abuse within the church, not a lot of it is public knowledge unless it becomes newsworthy. And because we don’t hear about it often, there is a tendency for churches to become complacent.
While every church wants to be proactive in protecting their congregation, we have to be realistic and understand that churches which can check all or even most of the boxes on practices to protect against a sexual misconduct event, are in the minority. In Church Mutual’s 2022 “Risk Radar Report – State of Volunteerism in America”, only 16% of volunteers surveyed said their organizations had checked the sex offender registry before allowing an individual to work with children and only 13% of the volunteers reported they had received sexual abuse training.
To change that perspective, here are 7 things every church should do for those working with minors (defined as anyone under the age of 18).
1. Written Policy – Have a formal written Policy & Procedures simply outlining the qualifications an individual must meet before being allowed to work with minors.
2. Application – Require every potential worker to complete an application asking questions you need to know.
3. Interview – Interview every applicant for youth and children’s ministry. Interviews provide the church with an opportunity to inquire into each applicant’s background and make a determination as to each person’s suitability for the position under consideration.
4. Never Alone Rule (or 2 Adult Rule) – Stipulate and enforce the “Never Alone Rule” that states (without exception) that an adult and a minor are never alone. By the way, in most legal circles a husband and wife count as one, not two.
5. 6-Month Rule – While volunteers are precious and essential for those wanting to work with minors, establishing a waiting period is also essential. This allows you the time to get to know them better, how they are best suited to serve, and let’s face it, it places an obstacle in front of those with the ill intent of gaining access to children.
6. Background Check – Did you notice that conducting a background check is near the bottom of the list? This is one component that most churches agree is a must – but statistically speaking, less than 10% of background checks will ever result in a “hit” and less than 10% of sex offenders are ever criminally prosecuted leaving more than 90% of offenders with no criminal records to check. That in itself means a church must do more than a background check.
7. Reference Checks / Training – I would tend to list Training ahead of reference checks but as the instances of sexual misconduct increase and monetary judgments are on the line, insurance carriers are cracking down on requiring reference checks and some even mandating it before approving the higher limits of coverage like $500,000 or $1,000,000 (which by the way we recommend). Ideally a reference from another place with the applicant has worked with minors is ideal but other possible sources could be their Bible Study teacher or other leaders within the church. Just don’t also discount the importance of training. There is a lot of valuable and often free types of training available and our agency would be happy to share that information with you.
We don’t like to talk about this subject and we often think that if we do, it might develop some type of mistrust with our volunteer workers. But we more often find that a church that is proactive in this area and one that develops and stands by a strong program, is the one that may find it’s children and youth ministry flourish.
It’s better to be uncomfortable talking about the idea of sexual abuse, than to be reacting to it after the fact.