Before New England churches made headlines with allegations of sexual abuse, I found James Cobble’s materials on protecting children in the church’s care. I was convinced we needed some policies to safeguard our kids, and I passed the kit on to Robert Fricke, a member of our Christian education board. He was equally impressed with Cobble’s materials.
Robert presented the materials to the church board, and they instructed him to research and draft a formal policy.
The new guidelines require children’s workers to submit to an in-depth application, an interview with the pastor, a criminal background check, and training on abuse and appropriate conduct. Our policy also prohibits activities involving children without at least two adults present.
Both the board and our church’s lawyer approved the policy. But to implement it, we needed the church’s approval, too.
Initial opposition
The board distributed written copies of the proposal to the church membership and scheduled a question and answer session three weeks later. At that session, the board encountered three objections.
Predictably, some in the church asked, “We’ve done children’s ministry for years without a policy like this; why do we need one now?”
The board answered with news and statistics on sexual abuse. Their most convincing argument was the desire to protect the children, our church’s reputation, and our church in legal matters.
Others thought the background check would be an invasion of privacy. The board explained that nearly all secular volunteer organizations that work with children or the elderly require these checks. One child-sex Web site even directs child predators to apply at churches, knowing how reluctant churches are to do thorough investigations.
The most troubling objection was to the two-adult rule: “How can we make two adults available for every ministry? We can hardly come up with one. We’ll have to cut back on programs or combine classes.” That was a legitimate fear. The board could not guarantee our current ministries would remain unaffected.
But the church rallied when they saw the value of ensuring the safety of our children and the integrity of the ministry. Protecting our children became a cause that brought people forward to volunteer, if only to ensure that a second adult would be there to safeguard the kids. No ministries were cut. No classes were combined. In fact, adopting the policy infused the church with a new enthusiasm for children’s ministry.
A public trust
We implemented the policy in 1996. Since then we’ve had neither complaint nor difficulty. In fact, the policy has made the church a more trusted friend to the community.
One summer a mother in the area was looking for something to do with her three children during the school break. She noticed our advertisement for a summer vacation Bible school.
When she visited during the registration time, we gave her a tour of the facilities and explained how the VBS would operate. She took particular interest when we explained the policy and our two-adult rule.
“How comforting,” she commented, “to bring my children to a church and know that they will be professionally supervised.”
Debbie Killeffer is the wife of Pastor Rob Killeffer at First Baptist Church, Braintree, Massachusetts.
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