{"id":32179,"date":"2022-09-10T15:59:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-visible-ways-to-show-your-church-is-working-to-keep-kids-safe\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:59:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:59:31","slug":"5-visible-ways-to-show-your-church-is-working-to-keep-kids-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-visible-ways-to-show-your-church-is-working-to-keep-kids-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Visible Ways to Show Your Church Is Working to Keep Kids Safe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nicholas Githiri photo – Pexels<\/div>\n

By Joy Allmond<\/em><\/p>\n

Your church has trained its leaders on the risks of child sexual abuse. Your volunteers have been made fully aware of reporting procedures and they understand\u2014and abide by\u2014children\u2019s ministry policies (such as the \u201ctwo-adult rule\u201d).<\/p>\n

How, then, would a church demonstrate to the parents within the congregation and those visiting the church with their families that they\u2019ve worked to provide a safe environment for children? What would give these visiting families the confidence to keep coming back?<\/p>\n

Kimberlee Norris, co-founder of MinistrySafe\u2014a consulting organization that helps churches create safety systems to meet legal standards of care and reduce the risk of child sexual abuse\u2014says there are several ways she advises churches to communicate child safety measures as it relates to abuse.<\/p>\n

1. Have a visual indicator of your church\u2019s commitment to training.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Norris, an attorney, has represented victims in child abuse litigation for more than 25 years, but she\u2019s also a parent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a parent, I would want to know what kind of training they\u2019ve had,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I would want to hear, \u2018We train our staff and volunteers about the risks of child sexual abuse. That training includes misconceptions, facts, prevalence, grooming process, and our staff and volunteers have an awareness of peer to peer sex abuse issues.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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One simple\u2014and instant\u2014way she says churches can communicate this is through prominent signage that indicates they\u2019ve gone through the training.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe [MinistrySafe] have stickers for churches who have gone through training to put on their windows that say, \u2018Trained by MinistrySafe,\u2019\u201d says Norris. \u201cIt\u2019s a way for a parent to not only see it, but it spawns conversation between the parents and the staff or volunteers.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Prominently display concrete policies.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Norris says every classroom, hallway, or venue where children\u2019s activities are held on church property should display one-page documents that outline their concrete policies. She calls these \u201cbright line\u201d documents.<\/p>\n

This ways, Norris says, parents can see \u201cthe absolutely imperative issues you don\u2019t want people to overlook no matter what.\u201d This not only shows them there are strict policies in place to protect their children; it also shows the parents the church is serious about reminders to their volunteers and staff of these policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bright lines document works especially well for those facilities that have two-way glass,\u201d Norris says. \u201cIt can be printed on both sides and affixed to the glass. It gives the parents something to read while they\u2019re waiting to check in their child.<\/p>\n

I typically tell ministries to end that with a reporting requirement blurb, \u201cwe report suspicions, allegations, and neglect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some examples of policies Norris says are important to outline on the bright lines document include:<\/p>\n