Church Security Alliance Recommends Child Safety Training
August 27th, 2010 // 8:50 pm @
Child safety training is a simple church security measure almost any church can easily implement. The benefits to training children’s ministry staff and volunteers in child abuse recognition and reporting are numerous.
It is an unfortunate fact in our society that children are abused sexually, emotionally and physically. Church volunteers often have contact with these children in Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, or children’s ministry events through community outreach programs where children are brought into the church.
Having an opportunity to stop child abuse can have a huge positive impact on a child who endures it repeatedly, but only when a church ministry team has had the proper training to recognize the warning signs for child abuse.
Church Security Alliance co-founder Glen Evans states, “A comprehensive child safety training program for church employees and volunteers is becoming as necessary as church background checks. Churches can no longer afford to ignore this most elementary, and easily implemented security step. Recent news reports highlight the fact we cannot ignore this issue any longer.”
A church child safety training program should incorporate several elements. First, the program should be comprehensive and complete. The church volunteer should be able to define child abuse, recognize behaviors that identify potential abusers, and know how to report suspected abuse to authorities.
Second, a church safety program should be able to document that training has occurred and the person attending the training has an understanding of the material presented.
Evans states, “Protect My Ministry has the best solution we have seen. It allows everybody within a ministry to watch several short videos, take a quiz, and documents a ministry’s efforts to train their staff effectively.”
ProtectMyMinistry.com has recently integrated a training program into its church security and risk managment solution, Ministry Mobilizer. Many churches have good intentions for training their ministry team, but high turn over, busy schedules, and lack of time make this type of training easy to miss or squeeze out.
Protect My Ministry provides a program where a children’s church or nursery volunteer can log on to the site, watch 7 videos within 55 minutes, and take a quiz from any computer with an internet connection. The program is very affordable and also assists a church or ministry with background checks and child ministry organization.
The best part of Protect My Ministry’s child safety program is that it is a solution for any sized church. Many churches lack the resources, expertise and money to hold a yearly training. Protect My Ministry provides an easy solution for this problem, and delivers a quality program your church can be proud to offer.
Category : Articles
Break the Silence…
August 13th, 2010 // 5:06 pm @
A father was arrested for molesting his two daughters and two pastors were also arrested on suspicion of failing to report the accusations to authorities, according to Phoenix Police
The father was booked with one count of sexual abuse, two counts of child molestation, and eleven counts of sexual conduct with a minor on July 9, according to Phoenix police spokesman James Holmes. The police are not releasing the father’s name to protect the identities of the victims.
His then 16-year-old daughter told a neighbor that she had been molested by her father for several years. The neighbor then confronted the father and he apparently admitted his involvement. The father also confessed that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
After this confrontation the Phoenix police were brought in and the girl was with the neighbor when she talked to officers, according to Holmes. The girl told officers of at least one instance of sexual intercourse and many instances of sexual contact over almost 5 years; she also informed police of the molestation of her older sister who moved out when she turned 18.
According to police, the father confessed to sexually abusing both victims after questioning and was arrested immediately.
The older daughter, now 19, told her two pastors about the alleged abuse in 2008 but they did not report the accusations to police, according to Holmes. Under Arizona law, and nearly every state has similar laws, the pastors had the duty to report to Child Protective Services and/or law enforcement.
Instead, the pastors met with the older daughter and the father. At that meeting, according to the police, the father confessed to sneaking into his daughter’s room to touch her. The pastors suggested the girl forgive her father, because he was repentant, Holmes added.
The pastors were arrested on one count each of failure to report sexual abuse.
For information on child safety training and screening your volunteers click here.
Category : Articles
Church Volunteer Arrested
EDMONDS — A volunteer magician and puppeteer who worked with the children’s ministry at Westgate Chapel in Edmonds is being accused of fondling a young parishioner during Sunday school and sneaking his camera up the skirts of unsuspecting girls and women.
On Tuesday morning Terry Jensen, 55, of Edmonds was charged with first-degree child molestation and two counts of attempted voyeurism. This is not the first time Jensen has faced such charges.
According to court papers filed this morning, in 2006 an 8-year-old girl reported that Jensen fondled her three times during Sunday school. At that time Jensen allegedly apologized to the girl, her mother, and the church’s leadership team according to Snohomish County deputy prosecutor, Adam Cornell. The report stated that Jensen “got down on one knee” and asked the girl for another chance.
Jensen was confronted again with allegations of sexual impropriety with parishioners this past January. Prosecutors allege that Jensen used a small camera to take pictures up the skirts of women and girls at church and on business trips. Jensen allegedly told Westgate Chapel officials he used the church’s camera to take pictures underneath the skirts of some of the teenage puppet workers behind the stage, Cornell wrote.
Edmonds police have seized two of Jensen’s computers but were unable to find any images related to the allegations against him. Jensen allegedly destroyed a third computer and threw it in the garbage. Investigators have been unable to locate that computer according to Cornell.
For more information on screening volunteers at your church click here.
Category : Articles
What Motivates Volunteers?
People volunteer at churches for as many reasons as there are individual personalities. Hopefully most of the people will be selfless and have a heart that genuinely wants to serve. Others may feel a sense of obligation because they have a child or youth involved in that area of ministry. And with churches in desperate need of volunteers, some may even feel pressured into serving.
Some volunteers want to feel like a part of the community of believers. Newcomers to a city or town often want to meet people and make friends. A good way to do so is to volunteer in their new church. Those who live alone might be fighting a sense of loneliness or miss the days when they had children at home and in the children’s ministry. Volunteering is a good way to accomplish both goals.
Volunteer coordinators or ministry directors can help volunteers feel valued and like they are a part of the team by introducing them to staff or fellow volunteers who are like-minded. A volunteer looking for connection that is subsequently ignored and asked to serve alone will not stick around for long!
Retired professionals often volunteer to pass wisdom on to the next generation. Valuing and treating them with honor will ensure that they flourish in whatever capacity they serve.
Discovering your volunteers’ motivations will help you know them better, manage them better, and get more out of them! And motivating your volunteers can help you better meet their expectations, making their experience better—and their willingness to continue more likely.
For more information on screening your volunteers visit Protect My Ministry
Category : Articles
Why do background checks for church volunteers?
Many churches believe that having safety procedures on church grounds is an adequate substitute for a background screening process to protect their children and youth from predators. And while having cameras in the classroom, state of the art check-in systems, and 2 adults in every classroom is a valuable and recommended procedure, having a criminal background check is a vital part of any child protection policy.
Take the example of Stephen Greeley, a 40-year-old volunteer at a church in St. Petersburg, FL that was recently arrested for molesting and raping a boy under the age of 12. Greeley befriended the boy and his parents over the course of a year and babysat the victim on at least two occasions in his apartment. He is charged with Sexual Battery and Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of a Child under the age of 12.
While none of these charges occurred on church property or during church-sponsored events, this is an example of the limitations of having procedures in place solely on church property.
Volunteers working with minors often have extended amounts of time with the children they supervise out from under the watchful eyes of the church. It is critical that churches take every precaution to screen those responsible for the safety and well-being of their children.
For more information on how to protect your ministry and the children in your church please click here.
Category : Articles