Security

8 Resources for Church Security Planning

Unfortunately, churches and places of worship aren’t exempt from becoming victims of violent attacks. While our most important tool is prayer, there are several additional steps church leaders can take to protect their congregations.  Deciding when and which doors to lock, how to respond in the event of an emergency, how to collaborate with first responders on emergency response plans, and establishing safety teams are just a few examples. Unless you have a security expert on staff, you’ll need outside help to provide direction for your church. Below are several church security planning resources to consider: #1 – Insurance company Talk with your church’s insurance agent to see what resources they have available.  Some provide free eBooks and training; others may have a list of preferred vendors you could contact and more. Most will at least offer guidance on what they require as your insurer. #2 – Denomination Check with your denomination’s leadership to see if they provide resources regarding safety and security policies. They might have templates and examples of security policies and procedures you could use. Also, ask if they have a list of recommended security experts to contact. #3 – Kingswood Security Consulting Sometimes it’s best to get expert advice that’s tailored for your church’s unique situation. Founder of the Worship Security Association and Kingswood Security Consulting, Simon Osamoh has an extensive security background. This includes 14 years as a Detective in England, former Head of Counter-Terrorism at Mall of America, and serving as a security advisor for his home church in Minnesota. His company provides individualized church security consulting along with church security training options. #4 – The Church Safety Guys Another organization that offers church security training and advice is The Church Safety Guys. Comprised of individuals who serve in their local church’s security teams, this non-profit organization works to provide training, policy and equipment recommendations, print resources, a weekly broadcast, and more. #5 – The Church Network The Church Network offers online courses on church security. They also have resources such as a Safety and Security Manual, Emergency Preparedness Response Manual, and more (many are free). Also, contact your local chapter of The Church Network to see if they plan on addressing security during an upcoming meeting.  #6 – Church Law & Tax This part of the Christianity Today organization provides several articles and other resources related to church security. Search for “security” in their online store to find several eBooks to use as a starting point for your church security planning.  #7 – Local First Responders As your church develops or updates a security plan, ask local first responders to review the plan and provide input. They’ll be the ones you call on for help in an emergency, so their insights could be extremely valuable. #8 – The Church Operations Toolkit Within The Church Operations Toolkit, you can access “how-to” guides for different aspects of church security. This includes creating a children check-in process, running background checks on staff and volunteers, an introduction to risk management, preparing for natural disasters, and interviews with subject matter experts like Simon Osamoh. No one wants to think a violent attack could occur at their church. However, we’ve seen several instances in the news that prove it is possible, and that we need to be prepared. By leveraging these and other church security planning expert resources, you can create a plan and be prepared to protect your congregation. 

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Should Your Church Have a Security Team?

While most of us feel safe when we pull into the church parking lot on Sunday morning, safety isn’t something we should take for granted. Unfortunately, churches aren’t immune from harm. Child abductions, abuse, active shooters, theft, and medical emergencies are a few examples of what can happen within church walls. Thankfully, the news isn’t all bad. There are individuals and organizations rising up to share practical ways that church leaders can reduce the likelihood of something bad happening. Oftentimes, this occurs through the development of a church safety and security team. One group seeking to serve in this capacity is The Church Safety Guys. This non-profit organization leverages decades of experience to serve the church from a safety and security perspective. They offer a variety of resources through books, a weekly broadcast, The Church Security App, and even a Church Safety & Security program in partnership with Centurion Bible College. Safety & Security as Ministry In his book, “The Case for Church Safety & Security,” Church Safety Guys Executive Director James McGarvey presents a case for why having a safety and security team is biblical and how to get started with such a ministry. Note that James calls the safety and security initiative a ministry. That distinction represents his recommended approach to initiating, developing, and maintaining such a team. He provides numerous citations from Scripture to support the stance that this is part of the church’s overall ministry and that leaders should strive to protect their congregation. Additionally, James advocates for what sometimes are opposite viewpoints. Some pastors hesitate to create such a team. They think it represents a lack of faith, use of resources that are needed elsewhere, or as something that’s not necessary. On the other hand, a church member who’s passionate about having a safety and security team might push too hard on the issue or be too rigid in approach, This can quickly alienate the pastor. James provides both parties with wise counsel on how to approach this issue in a manner that respects the authority, leadership, and expertise of everyone involved. Where to Begin Additional resources The Church Safety Guys offer include an eBook for church plants, a 10-step workbook to help churches establish their safety and security ministry, and more. These resources are practical tools to assist leaders in their desire to protect their congregations through a robust safety and security ministry. If your church wants to create or enhance a safety and security ministry, The Church Safety Guys organization is a great resource to consider.   

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How to Conduct a Church Security and Safety Risk Assessment

Church leaders have a responsibility to take appropriate measures to protect the congregation and the church. One tool you can use to accomplish this is a risk assessment. The practice of completing a risk assessment exercise will encourage leaders to think through risks and identify ways to mitigate them. A risk assessment should include the following: The following is an excerpt from my book, Protect the Vision: A Practical Guide to Church Risk Management. This excerpt covers a high-level risk assessment specifically regarding church safety and security. Other risks addressed in the book include: Risk definition This risk includes anything that could cause physical harm to someone while on church property or while participating in a church-led event (even off church property). This includes seemingly little things such as cracks in the sidewalk or unsecured wires in the sanctuary to the potential for an active shooter situation or natural disaster. The main thing to consider here is what measures you are taking to protect those who are participating in church activities. What could happen How to prevent this risk from occurring How to reduce the impact if this risk occurs Develop an emergency response plan to address the following: As you develop the plan, consider the following1: How to respond to injuries or medical emergencies: How to respond in the event of a natural disaster: How to respond in an active shooter situation1: As you finalize these documents: Risk Assessment Tools and Resources (1) Adapted from the 2014 WFX Conference Presentation, “Emergency Preparedness for Your Facility” by then Lieutenant Brad G. Fortune, Plano Police Department, Texas

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How to Improve Church Safety and Security

Once upon a time, pastors thought their churches were safe and secure places that even criminals would respect. Unfortuantely, that’s no longer the case (or perhaps, that always was a fairy tale). Regardless, part of your responsibility as a church leader is to take prudent measures to protect your congregation. As we’ve addressed previously, there are many actions you can take to accomplish that goal. However, a key first step is to assess what risks your church could face. From there, you can determine what to do that will improve church safety and security. What is a Risk Assessment? The assessment step is really a deep-dive look at potential risks to your church. It involves asking some uncomfortable questions such as: What event might occur that could take down the church? How would we respond if a tornado siren went off during a service? Have we provided staff and volunteers with training on how to react in an active shooter situation? What would our teams do if the fire alarm went off? Drop any of those questions at the next staff meeting and you’ll feel the tone of the room take a nose-dive. No one likes to talk about the bad things that could happen within or to our churches. Unfortunately, this is an important issue that we must seriously consider. We’ve all heard of the church or ministry damaged by scandal, fraud, natural disaster, or other difficult events. A trusted bookkeeper siphoned funds into his account, a former member files a lawsuit, or someone is hurt while at a church function. These situations really do happen, yet we tend to think that as a church we’re immune from these issues. That’s simply not the case. We have a responsibility to consider the risk events that could harm our congregations and take appropriate actions to improve church safety and security. A risk is simply the chance that something could go wrong. The fallout from that event could be minuscule or catastrophic, depending on the situation. Fortunately, there are steps we can take to prevent a risk from occurring and minimizing the impact if it does occur. The process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating risk is commonly referred to as a risk management program. I’ve managed that function for a large company and on individual projects. The following is an overview of the process and how to get started. Step #1: Identify the potential risks to church safety and security This step involves gathering your senior leadership team and asking that uncomfortable question, “What event(s) might occur that could take out our church?” Explain that the reason for this discussion is to ensure you’re doing everything needed to prevent these risks. Here are a few additional questions to use that can get the conversation going: Your list of potential risks may include the following: Step #2: Assess the likelihood and potential impact of each risk As you discuss each risk, talk through the scenario and what might happen. Assess each risk for how likely it is to occur and what the impact would be to your church if it did happen. For the risk of natural disasters: Are you in an area prone to tornados? If so, then the likelihood may be rather high. Should a tornado damage your building, that could lead to physical injuries if anyone is present at the time. Additionally, extensive damage to the building could mean you won’t be able to hold services there for several weeks (or more). While you can’t reduce the likelihood of a tornado, you can take steps to reduce the impact. Examples include purchasing insurance, proper building construction, developing and communicating safety procedures, and scouting temporary facilities before they’re needed. Step #4: Determine what processes are already in-place to prevent each risk Do you have policies and processes in-use to prevent the risk? For example: Do you require that at least two people count and sign-off on the offering total for each service? Is each volunteer working with children required to pass a criminal background check and attend training prior to serving? Do you have insurance coverage on your facilities and the contents? Have you documented these policies and do you communicate them to staff on a regular basis? You may want to seek out legal counsel regarding certain risks to confirm that you’re in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. These are all steps that can reduce the likelihood and/or impact of various risks. Step #5: Identify gaps and take action to further mitigate risks If you determine that the mitigations in-place aren’t sufficiently reducing a particular risk, then you need to develop a plan to close that gap. This may include getting additional insurance coverage, implementing background checks, or developing a security threat response plan. The key to this step is to document the actions required and assign a single leader responsible for ensuring that the tasks are completed by a certain date. This leader should report back to you on a weekly basis until all tasks are complete. Step #6: Communicate the risks and mitigating actions Just having your senior leadership team aware of the risks isn’t sufficient. Discuss these risks with staff and volunteers who are directly responsible for carrying out the risk mitigation actions or who may be impacted by a risk event (such as an emergency evacuation). Summarize each risk into a sentence or two and review the list with your staff. Get their input on the list and ask if they have any ideas for how to prevent these risks. Discuss any existing policies or procedures that prevent each risk such as background checks or safety rules. Make sure they understand that you’ve put those policies in place for a purpose and what the consequences to the church could be if one is violated and the risk occurs. Communicate applicable risks while training volunteers and discuss which policy or procedure you’ve designed to prevent those risks. When people understand why they’re required to

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How to Initiate a Practical Risk Management Strategy for Your Church

We’ve all heard about or read the news stories of congregations who’ve dealt with the aftermath of a risk that came to pass. These incidents, whether natural or man-made disasters, can significantly damage those involved along with the church as a whole. The church’s reputation within the community, its witness for Christ, harm caused to individuals, plus potential financial costs can last for a long time. Thankfully, a simple risk management strategy can help you reduce the likelihood that these risks will occur. Here are a handful of examples of what could happen: While the specific circumstances change throughout the decades, risks aren’t new to those serving God and seeking to help His children. Back in Old Testament times, Nehemiah found himself in the middle of his own dangerous scenario when the Jews had returned from exile. Upon hearing the reports of Jerusalem’s destruction, Nehemiah immediately felt compelled to lead his countrymen in rebuilding. He traveled to Jerusalem and rallied the people to rebuild the wall. “Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.” – Nehemiah 4:17-18 Not everyone in the surrounding area was pleased with this development, so they threatened to attack the workers. Nehemiah heard of these threats and stationed guards to protect the workers and their families. He also ordered the workers to carry a weapon in one hand and build with the other. Although I doubt he called it such, Nehemiah had put into place a risk management strategy. He identified the potential risk (threats against his team of builders) and then mitigated that risk (assigned guards and armed the workers). Nehemiah had a vision of the walls rebuilt and the Jewish remnant returning to their homeland. He was determined to make that vision a reality and worked diligently to make it happen – despite many obstacles. Church leaders today face a variety of risks and challenges as you seek to propel the ministry vision of your church. From running background checks on volunteers, to enforcing safety procedures, and more, you’re working to prevent bad things from happening to those in your care. It’s not an easy task and the stakes are high. The whole concept of risk management can become overwhelming. Do we need a policy for this?  How can we possibly monitor all that with the few staff and volunteers available?   While you can’t prevent every possible bad scenario (no one can), there are simple and practical steps you can take to protect your congregation. I’ve created a concise, free resource to help with your risk management efforts. It includes ten top risks to churches along with a few tips on how to prevent each. You can read it in less than 15 minutes and start taking action right away to protect your church. Get your free copy of “10 Risks Church Leaders Can’t Afford to Ignore” by filling out the form below.

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Quick Tips for Avoiding a Social Media PR Crisis

Not all publicity is good publicity – contrary to the popular saying. If something your church does, or something a church leader says or posts becomes newsworthy, you could have a serious reputation and trust issue on your hands. With social media playing an ever-increasing role in the news cycle, bad news can travel faster than ever. TV news reporters could show up at your front door with cameras rolling, reporters calling your front desk where your receptionist is caught off-guard and ill-prepared, your very own hashtag on Twitter (this time trending wouldn’t be a good thing), and thousands of comments on your Facebook page or emails to your church – all within a matter of a few hours. You may have to go into damage control mode fast. Even if the church didn’t do anything wrong, you’ll be tried in the court of public opinion quickly and must have a rational, calm, professional, and God-honoring response ready right away. How to reduce the chances of a social media PR crisis: #1 – Protect Church Social Media Accounts Designate 2-3 carefully selected and trained people to have the login information to post from the church’s social media accounts. You need mature believers who are social-media savvy to handle this responsibility. In some churches, this role falls under a Media or Communications department. Coordinate communications efforts to keep messaging and tone consistent (as appropriate for each social media channel). #2 – Establish a Clear Policy Develop and document your church’s policy regarding what types of posts you want them to write and what’s not acceptable. Make sure they understand they’re speaking on behalf of the senior pastor, elders, board, and congregation whenever they post as your church. They need to feel the gravity of that responsibility yet still feel confident in using social media to share news about your church’s activities. This policy should also include whether you’ll delete abusive or negative comments on your social media accounts from other people. Sometimes it makes sense to respond; other times it’s best to either ignore or delete. Do you want foul language or inappropriate pictures and comments deleted? Probably so. #3 – Assign Media Contacts Designate 1-2 people on staff to talk with the media on behalf of the church. You shouldn’t have an intern or new staff member giving an interview to the local news station. Since they are less experienced in their role, and most likely without any media training, it would be much easier for them to state something in a way that could be misinterpreted. We have to be “wise as serpents and gentle as doves” in these situations. #4 – Develop Relationships with Local Media Be proactive and develop relationships with your local news media. This isn’t about angling for favorable coverage; this is about being genuinely interested in serving your community and talking with local media about what they’re seeing and how your congregation could help. As local reporters get to know you, they’re more likely to come to you directly about anything they hear before running a story. How to Handle a Public Relations Crisis #1 – Develop a Plan Now Don’t wait for a social media post that goes awry or an unflattering viral news story about the church (whether it’s accurate or not). Work with your church leadership team to develop a plan for how to respond to potential public relations issues. Consider the following as you develop a plan: Social media can be an excellent ministry tool but it does require some expertise and finesse to use well. Planning how to use social media and how to respond should things go awry will help your team leverage this tool to reach your community. By the way…this is an adapted excerpt from my book entitled, Protect the Vision: A Practical Guide to Church Risk Management. You can purchase the book here OR get a digital copy with your membership to The Church Operations Toolkit.

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How to Prepare for a Natural Disaster

Growing up in Oklahoma, AKA “Tornado Alley,” I’ve seen the horrible impact that natural disasters can have on a community. Tornados can destroy homes and businesses within seconds. Wildfires, floods, and hurricanes can also lead to lost lives and severe injuries. Oftentimes, infrastructure is damaged and disrupted. As a church leader, you’ve likely considered how to protect the church facilities during natural disasters. Additionally, your congregation can serve the local community and help others recover. Here are a few tips on how to prepare before a natural disaster strikes: #1: Know the risks in your area In Oklahoma, we all knew when tornado season began. We stayed informed on the weather forecast and planned accordingly if forecasters predicted possible storms. There are probably natural disasters that are common in your part of the country. Earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, wildfires, and floods tend to occur in various regions. Know the potential threats to your area and how to handle each. #2: Confirm insurance coverage Contact your insurance agent to review the church’s insurance coverage. Keep documentation about the church’s insurance coverage accessible by a few leaders within the church. #3: Develop a decision-making process Right after a disaster strikes is not the time to try and figure out a plan of action. There are several decisions that the church leadership team will need to make in the hours and weeks after a disaster. Laying the groundwork before a disaster happens will make it much easier to react quickly and decisively if needed. Here are a few decisions you might have to make after a natural disaster: Talk through these issues with your church leadership team. Document the decision-making criteria and process, then communicate it to those involved. #4: Create a disaster response plan Talk through various scenarios with your team and document how you would handle each. Scenario: Earthquake during a church service What do you have the congregation do to take cover? How do you keep children safe and then reunite them with parents? Scenario: Rising floodwaters Do you recruit volunteers to lay sandbags around the church building? What electronic equipment do you need to move to higher ground (either in the building or elsewhere)? Scenario: Forecasted Hurricane Do you board up the windows? Lay sandbags? Move certain items inside? Document how you’ll handle each situation, who has authority to make what type of decision (and have more than one person named for each), and how to communicate those decisions (see #5). Also, contact local first responders to get their input on your plans and see if they have any additional recommendations. #5: Develop a communications plan If you decide to cancel Sunday services or close the office mid-week, how will you communicate that to staff, volunteers, members, and the community? Will you use email, text messages, your church’s mobile app, social media posts, church website, recording on church voicemail, and/or your outside signage? Choose which methods work best for your congregation and document that process. Also, decide how you’ll communicate updates after the initial crisis is past. If your church building sustained damage, how will you communicate that information and let people know when you’ll have services again (whether at your current building or a temporary location while repairs are made)? #6: Decide how to help the community through a crisis Your congregation can make a big impact serving and helping the community recover. However, it’s best if you have a basic plan ready before it’s needed so you can respond quickly and with excellence. Consider how to gather information from the congregation about their ability to help with disaster recovery. Find out which members of the congregation have specialized skills or equipment that would be helpful in a cleanup situation. Note in the church management system (ChMS) which members are electricians, plumbers, contractors, construction company owners, carpenters, or medical professionals. Develop a response plan that includes contacting these individuals to request their help with church-led cleanup efforts. Also, first responders and medical professionals will likely be in high demand in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Develop a plan to support them in various ways as they work long hours to serve the community. Finally, discuss how your church could coordinate teams to remove debris, search for anyone trapped under the rubble, and distribute needed food and supplies. Plan ahead for how your church would serve your neighbors in a difficult situation. Talk with local nonprofit agencies and other churches to see if you could work together to serve the community if needed. #7: Adopt a church Whether you live in an area prone to tornados, earthquakes, or other natural disasters or not, consider adopting another church that may need your help someday. This could be a church where you know the pastor or one that’s somehow connected with your congregation. Whatever the case, talk with their leadership team and discuss how your congregation could serve theirs in the event of an emergency. After all, they’re your brothers and sisters in Christ. We should be proactive about helping out family and the communities in which they live. Don’t wait until the storm has already come to reach out (although that’s certainly still helpful). Start the conversation before there’s a need and discuss how your church could help should that day arrive. None of us likes to think that our community could be hit with a tragic event. However, we must be prepared if we want to protect our congregation, church facilities, and serve our community. Should disaster strike, having a plan will enable you to lead with confidence. Your church can be a calming presence in your community, providing hope and help in a challenging situation. Be prepared. Plan ahead. Pray for your community, comfort those who’ve lost loved ones or homes, support them, and help them recover. Be the hands and feet of Christ to each other and to your community.

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5 Ways to Prevent Child Abuse in the Church

As a church leader, you want children and their parents, to feel safe at church.  This includes supporting parents as they work to “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6.  That’s why I’m sure news stories regarding churches within the Southern Baptist Convention, what happened at NewSpring, and incidents within the Catholic Church must have hit your heart and served as painful wake-up calls that we have work to do to prevent child abuse within our churches. It’s tempting to think “that could never happen at my church”.  However, these tragic crimes have occurred in churches of various sizes, denominations, and in a variety of locations.  Predators don’t care about the people they hurt or about the impact on your church – they only care about themselves. We must, as we read in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Fortunately, there are several practical steps you can take to prevent child abuse in your church. Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and do not attempt to provide legal advice. Please speak with church legal counsel to ensure your church’s policies adhere to applicable laws and regulations.   #1: Conduct Background Checks If you’re already doing background checks on potential staff and volunteers, excellent.  Please continue to do so and re-run those checks on a regular basis. However, remember that a clear background check simply indicates an individual hasn’t been caught.  It doesn’t prove they have never or would never abuse a child. In addition, not all background checks are created equal. Some vendors search more databases than others. Some jurisdictions are better about recording issues than others.   If you haven’t started performing background checks yet, look here for vendors to consider. Bottom line: A background check is the minimum you should do to screen a potential employee or volunteer.  It’s an excellent place to start, but it isn’t the finish line. #2: Complete an Extensive Interview Process As you look to hire new employees, you probably already go beyond a single interview and reading through the candidate’s resume.  After all, you’re about to bring someone onto your staff who will have influence over the spiritual growth of others. You certainly don’t want to bring someone on-board who is a “sheep in wolves clothing.”  People will look at them as spiritual leaders. In addition, this potential staff member may have direct contact with young people at your church.  This means you’ll want to conduct in-depth interviews and contact the candidate’s references including previous ministry employers.    Take time to get your own impression of the candidate’s character.  This may require several interviews and having elders or other staff members talk with the candidate as well.   Check out this list of interview questions from the Vanderblomen Search Group to spark ideas for what to ask candidates.   In this article, Richard R. Hammar of Church Law & Tax provides several recommendations for preventing child abuse.   #3: Carefully Screen Volunteers We all know getting enough volunteers can be a challenge.  If we put additional requirements in-place, that can make it even more difficult to fill all the needed volunteer positions.   However, the potential consequences of NOT properly vetting a volunteer vastly outweigh the inconvenience of a more rigorous process.  You don’t want to tell a heartbroken parent that you didn’t screen the offending volunteer more closely because it was “too hard.” This more in-depth process should at least apply to any volunteer who would serve around minors. What should be involved in screening potential volunteers? #4: Establish (and strictly enforce) Protective Policies To make sure all staff and volunteers are aware of your church’s policies regarding children, you’ll need to document those policies and require training.   In addition to initial training, constantly reenforce these policies: The idea here is to keep these policies in front of staff and volunteers on a consistent basis. If someone does not follow the policies, you need to enforce consequences.  This could mean reassigning a volunteer, removing them from volunteering, or even firing an employee who fails to follow the policy.   Everyone needs to understand that you will not tolerate breaking these rules as they exist to protect all parties involved. Adopting a zero-tolerance stance isn’t easy, but you may only have to do that once to get the point across. Here are several policy points to consider: #5: Incident Response If someone reports abuse by church staff or volunteer, immediately report this to the applicable authorities.  When appropriate, gather church leaders together and prepare to respond to questions from the media and from the congregation. In addition, your church’s insurance company may require that you notify them in the event of an allegation of abuse. Talk with your church’s legal counsel about your legal obligations regarding receiving reports of alleged abuse against a minor.  Include those requirements in your church’s policies and procedures, then train all staff and volunteers on how to adhere to them. On a Personal Note… I’ve tried to approach this topic from a standpoint of providing practical tips.  However, the reason I felt compelled to write this piece is how I felt after reading news stories and thinking about my children.  Like most parents, I am fiercely protective of them. The thought of how they and our family would be affected should they be abused at church is unfathomable.  I would much rather have a staff member tell me that childcare isn’t available because they didn’t have enough qualified volunteers than have something awful happen. There are likely parents in your community who are wary of bringing their children to church after hearing these news stories.  Please invest the effort now to review and tighten up your church’s policies and procedures. Then educate your congregation on the steps you’ve taken to protect

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background check providers

5 Best Background Check Providers for Church Volunteers

As church leaders, you want to create a safe environment for those who attend your church. Thankfully, there are several background check providers who can help you with this important task. Conducting background checks on volunteers can protect your members, especially children, from potential predators. Story after story reminds us just how important this task is — and how carefully screening all staff should be a priority at every church. Background checks may only indicate that an individual hasn’t been caught. However, they are still a vital first step to properly vetting potential staff members and volunteers. Here are five background check providers to consider as you implement or improve the screening processes at your church: Shepherd’s Watch To purchase background check screenings through Shepherd’s Watch, you must first purchase one of the two life-time memberships offered. These memberships, $29.99 or $79.99, are a one-time fee and provide additional safety knowledge in a monthly newsletter, videos for volunteer training, and articles to share with your staff. Price: In addition, a membership offers special pricing on expert background checks, which range from $12 to $39. SafeChurch SafeChurch offers risk management resources for GuideOne Insurance customers. They offer inspection and assessment tools that give safety improvement recommendations, project plans for those improvements, and access to online training designed specifically for churches. It also offers access to background check services through Protect My Ministry, which serves churches of all sizes, and Reference Services Inc. (RSI), a nationally-accredited full-service background screening and drug testing firm. Price: Because of GuideOne’s partnership with Protect My Ministry and RSI, discounted prices are available for background checks. Click on the links to learn pricing options for the specific needs at your church. Protect My Ministry Protect My Ministry, as mentioned above, serves churches of all sizes. Currently, it’s serving more than 25,000 ministries throughout all 50 states. Its unique features include 50-state sex offender searches, free re-verification of criminal records, and no minimum requirements to use their services. Price: This background check provider offers two packages, the Basic and Plus. Both are comprehensive screenings for both staff and volunteers. Use their online consultation tool to find out which package is recommended for your church. LifeWay LifeWay allows access to several background check providers at heavily discounted rates. By going through backgroundchecks.com’s proprietary National Criminal Database, they are able to offer a host of products that allow additional searches through various tribal territory sex offender files and numerous state health and human services exclusion lists. Price: Though there are many options to choose from with LifeWay, pricing ranges from $10 to $20 per check. Learn more about their pricing options here.   Verified Volunteers Verified Volunteers offers an easy, user-friendly way to do background checks. Once you identify a potential volunteer, you send them the invitation through email or an embedded link. From there, the volunteer goes through the simple four-step process, which you can monitor the entire way. Price: Costs of a VV background check are dependent on the complexity of the screening. Costs could be as low as $10. Contact VV to learn a more accurate quote for your church’s needs. In addition to background checks, there are more ways to ensure you’re meeting the highest level of safety protocols. Talk with your church’s insurance provider. Ask if they have preferred background check providers. Ask them for recommendations on vetting staff and volunteers along with policies for childcare and interaction with minors. Contact your church management system vendor to ask if they work with specific background check providers.   Don’t rely only on a clear background check to approve a staff member or volunteer.  With staff members, you should have an extensive interview process and check references in addition to the background check. For volunteers, consider setting rules where a volunteer must attend the church for at least six months before he/she can serve around minors. You could also require them to serve in other areas (greeters, parking lot, etc.) before they serve around children. This allows staff and other volunteers time to interact with this individual and notice any potentially concerning behavior.   Put policies into place — and make sure they’re followed — where an adult cannot be alone with a child. Ever. Even if this means canceling childcare on a Sunday morning because a few volunteers didn’t show up. As a parent, I’d rather be told I’ll need to keep my child in service with me than have her in the nursery and something bad happen because an adult was unsupervised. No one wants to admit that abuse could happen at their church. It’s easy to read these horrifying stories and think they are so far away from your reality. But if we truly want to keep people safe, we have to recognize that abuse is possible, then take the steps necessary to prevent it. By implementing background checks and other safety procedures, you could save little ones (and their families) from the horrific long-term impacts of abuse.

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Getting Started with Church Security

Church security is a topic we’d all prefer was unnecessary to address. Unfortunately, an online search of security incidents occurring within churches pulls up quite a few examples. Thankfully, qualified professionals with a heart for ministry are using their skills to serve churches in this area. One such professional is Simon Osamoh, founder of Kingswood Security Consulting and the Worship Security Association. Simon worked as a Detective in England, then handled security for the Mall of America. He is well-versed in dealing with organized crime and terrorism threats. Simon uses this expertise to serve the faith community and now helps church leaders navigate the complex waters of welcoming broken people into their churches while still keeping their congregations safe. I recently interviewed Simon for The Church Operations Toolkit membership. He had several practical tips to share with our members. Here are a few highlights from that conversation: Tip #1: Identify your church’s security culture What is the leadership of the church comfortable with when it comes to security measures? Would the congregation accept having an armed security team on-campus or not? Tip #2: Determine what policies and procedures the church needs List every program or service that occurs throughout the week on church property. Consider what element(s) of risk you may encounter with each event. Tip #3: Discuss how best to manage those risks These steps will become the documented policies and procedures for your church’s security plan. Tip #4: Keep documentation simple Document security policies and procedures in short, simple terms. This makes it easier for training purposes. It’s also hard to recall a long, detailed emergency response plan when you’re faced with the adrenaline rush of an emergency. Tip #5: Train staff and volunteers on church security Once you’ve developed the security policies and procedures, provide training to staff and volunteers. For more insights from Simon Osamoh on church security, check out his book, Securing Church Operations: A Seven-Step Plan for Ministry and Safety Leaders (affiliate link). You can also learn more at Kingswoodsc.com or worshipsecurity.org. Interested in becoming a member and getting full access to church operations templates, interviews, and how-to guides? Fill out the form below to learn more:

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