Nothing in this world causes me to be more emotional than to learn about a child sexually abused by a trusted person in the church. Such wickedness ought not to occur with God’s people. Sadly, the media is reporting an increasing number of incidents nationwide. In my few months of service with Louisiana Baptists, I have learned about far too many such incidents.
Child abuse is so sinister. Part of the reason is because it is so self-indulgent. The perpetrators do not stop and think about the ripple effect of their sin. The child’s life is irreversibly changed. The family grieves and questions who can be trusted. The church is a wide open target for litigation and a grotesque, sinister cloud of darkness hovers over the church’s witness.
Many people have the mythological idea that a small church, where everyone knows everybody in Louisiana, is a safe haven for children. All but one incident I have learned about in my short tenure has occurred in a small church. Small churches may tend to be more vulnerable than large
churches because they haven’t taken the initiative to establish policies, procedures or do
background checks on “Aunt Bessie” or whomever might be working with children.
Large churches are more familiar with the need for policies and procedures. However, they need to evaluate the effectiveness of current policies and study the process of administrating a child safety plan. Are current practices providing a safe haven for children?
Churches of every size have the need to be proactive about child protection. To assist Louisiana Baptist churches, the state missions staff looked for resources that provided a comprehensive method for protecting children from those who would damage a child’s innocence.
The Child Guard Systems program provides a customized policy for the church to adopt, a web-based training and testing program, and access to criminal background checking. Once a
volunteer/staff goes through the training, testing and background check, they are issued a
certificate that verifies their compliance with the Child Guard Systems program.
As a result of the willingness of LBC to introduce this program to you, the set-up fee ($500) is modified to a minimum charge of $100 plus a dollar for each person in average attendance at your church (not to exceed $500.) Because of this introduction to you, Child Guard Systems also provides a significantly reduced fee for background checks.
The general public, media and attorneys are not going to give churches a “free pass” on this
issue. Not that they should. We must be proactive and make certain our churches are places where children can safely become fully devoted followers of Christ.
Thank you for the honor of serving Louisiana Baptists.
John L. Yeats
Director of Communications
*It is recommended that the local church seek the advice of competent legal counsel before the adoption of any policies and the use of background checks. The material about Child Guard Systems is for the purpose of providing information resources only. Neither the Louisiana Baptist Convention nor the Executive Board of the Louisiana Baptist Convention makes any representations or warranties about the claims or practices of its resources or advertisers.