Dear friends,
You may or may not be aware that in 2019 the Houston Chronicle broke a story that revealed that over 700 sex abuse cases had occurred in SBC churches spanning a period of over 20 years. Many of these cases were not properly reported and people were not appropriately cared for or protected.
Houston Chronicle article
Many of these victims were children. Anyone suffering abuse at church is horribly tragic, but it is especially grievous to think about any child anywhere experiencing abuse at church. Jesus said, "But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea" (Matthew 18:6).
It is terrible to imagine the harm done to a person in the development of their faith when they experience sexual abuse at church.
Because of this, I wanted to take a moment to remind you how important it is to constantly improve in the area of protecting children under the care of you church. There are so many resources out there to help, but your church will need to be very deliberate in interacting with them and adjusting your culture. Here are several resources:
MinistrySafe
MinistrySafe provides, as they say, "a complete child safety system." This is a great starting place to train workers to be aware of the ways that predatory behavior manifests in church systems. They also provide a resource for conducting background investigations for those who serve kids in your church.
MinistrySafe Website
The Caring Well Challenge
This resource doesn't only look at child protection, but helps churches think through all the implications of sexual abuse within the church. It's a well-crafted strategy that helps churches look at the issue holistically and respond deliberately. These resources were developed by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC specifically to help us address this need.
The Caring Well Challenge Website
Georgia Baptist Mission Board
Implementation/Assistance from the MBA
Hal Seed says, "We can't be so busy working in the ministry that we don't work on the ministry." Child protection is working on the ministry. It is one of those issues that gives your church firm footed stability to keep proclaiming the Gospel.
The Middle Baptist Association exists to serve and strengthen churches and to equip leaders. We subscribe to a Background Checking service in order to help churches investigate ministry leaders and volunteers. But that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to child protection. If we can help you learn how to implement good policies and practices we would be glad to assist!
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