Making First Baptist the Safest Place for Families to Worship Together
I do not know of a pastor or team of church leaders who believe that safety is unimportant for those who worship together each week. No pastor with integrity desires to put those under his care in harm’s way. No pastoral and ministerial leadership team with love for the Lord and his people would ever intentionally allow a child to be harmed. However, at some point good intentions and declarations of doing things correctly become just another log on the fire of good intentions until actual steps are taken.
Children’s Safety Is a Gospel Issue
There have been numerous talking points among pastors and church leaders declared to be “Gospel Issues” recently. So many have been declared to be so that it seems many who would normally “amen” such a declaration are now saying “Wait, if everything is a gospel issue…is anything really a gospel issue?” or “What exactly is the gospel if everything ends up falling under the term categorically?” These are valid questions and as is the case in modern evangelicalism, issues and movements tend to be gathered under what becomes a marketable Christian buzzword until that term is deemed outdated and another is coined (e.g. missional, purpose-driven, etc.)
The gospel is not or should not be a buzzword. The good news of God made evident in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been and always will be paramount in our Christian journey. Thus, to declare the safety of our children as a gospel issue is to state that somehow, to ignore the most vulnerable in our churches is to cause the message of God’s good news of redemption to be muted from the ears of those most precious to him. The good news declared from the pulpit and in the Bible study classes must be lived out in our actions daily. Within the church family, the good news of God’s love is to be not only modeled with the youngest who gather with us weekly, but declared in words and deeds so that we are not erecting barriers to seeing, hearing, and experiencing God’s grace to those who have been entrusted to us by parents, grandparents, and guardians.
Therefore, when we say that our children’s safety is a gospel issue, this is what we mean.
In most cases this has not been debatable. The pastors and churches I know and have interacted with for years would all declare this to be true, at least at the level of providing a safe, loving environment for the youngest in the church. Thus, other than those who have evil intentions (and there are some…history has shown this to be true) we can agree with the old song “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.”
Good Intentions Are Not Enough
You have heard the statement of old, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Perhaps a bit extreme, but the point is well made. Good intentions by well-meaning people, even in church, only go so far.
When the Houston Chronicle released its exposé of Southern Baptist sexual predators whose evil acts had come to light over the years, the reaction and response was loud. Many were surprised that such things had been happening across our vast network of independent, autonomous churches. Most were rightly appalled. Some were not surprised at all, in many cases due to personal experience. Others amazingly seemed to think that the issues were overblown and that there really was no problem.
Still others found strength in the stories as they boldly began to share their own biographies of abuse and evil. Some wrote books about their experiences. Others wrote blogs. A few shared publicly at conferences and events. These bold souls provided strength for the many who suffered in silence or who had sought to push back their experiences to a place within their mind never to go again.
I believe many victims remained silent for years, falsely living in shame, not sure how to process their pain. Some left the church. Others remained but became the walking wounded. Churches and pastors were and are ill-equipped to respond. Thus, most do not.
I could expound on this, but I have written on it prior (click here for prior article) and while this article builds upon the past as reasons for current policies and practices, my focus here is sharing how we are working to protect those who are the “least of these” now who attend our church.
We are working with the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (ECAP) to update and narrow our policies regarding children and to ensure that when we say we wish to be the safest place for families to worship together it will be more than a tagline, but a statement of truth.
We are so glad to be working with ECAP. Below is a video I was asked to make for pastors and church leaders regarding our partnership. Take a moment to watch it and you will hear some of our church’s terrible chapters of history and how those revealed moments have given us the focus of ensuring that children’s safety at First Baptist Church remains a gospel issue.
Some of Our Challenges
There are challenges that come with becoming an ECAP-compliant church. Yet, even if ECAP did not exist, our moves to being safer than ever would still face challenges. I am thankful for our children’s and preschool ministry team members who are committed to ensuring everything is done within our power to protect our children. However, there remain challenges. Many are culture related. Some can be categorized under “presumptions.” Still others are just those things that we do not know because we do not know. As we move forward this year, changes are coming. Big changes. Changes that will not be easy, but will be right.
To be honest, as I stated in the video, there are dozens of important things that we face regularly as pastors and ministry leaders. It would be easy to just say “We’re good enough. We can deal with the safety stuff later.” The problem is that later never arrives and the needed protections end up being things that are good and should be done, but never happen. The tyranny of the urgent leaves the important undone.
These are some of the things that are being implemented now. Each comes with its own set of challenges. In most cases challenges mean things people do not fully understand or agree with but must abide by in order to serve. Therefore, over-communication of why we are making such changes is vital.
Policies – As our state convention’s attorney has stated, “The only thing worse than not having policies regarding children’s and preschool workers is having policies and not abiding by them.” Our policies are being reworked and the safety guidelines for workers are being better clarified. When the new policies go into effect later this year, some leaders will balk. Why? Because the reasons for changes will not be understood. In our experience, even if understood, they will not be liked. So, this will be fun. To those who live as if rules are for everyone else…well, they will not be serving in our ministry.
Background Checks – Currently, we pay for background checks for all adults who work with children under the age of 18. We used to do this every three to five years. We will begin doing this annually. It will cost more, but due diligence requires we do this. We understand that background checks are not the secret sauce of protection for adults and children, but this bare minimum requirement must happen. It has. It will, with more regularity.
Photo Badges – Those who work with preschoolers and children (grade 6 and younger) must wear a provided photo ID badge while in class and on campus. We have purchased the printer and software to make these, and they will be updated every year or two (as photos will need to change and badge colors will be updated. We recognize that some adults just do not like wearing lanyards with name badges. To be honest, we do not care if it is liked. It is required. Our emergency response team will be monitoring our children’s areas to ensure that only adults with pre-approved, provided badges are with the children.
Buildings Off Limits - We will be making our children’s area off limits other than for approved workers and children while meeting. Any adult (even staff members) who wish to walk down the hallways between these classes must have a provided ID badge or be escorted by an approved worker with badge. Parents dropping off and picking up will continue to have the printed forms for such we have been using for years. Practically, what this means is that “Joe Churchmember” who attends regularly, gives his offering, serves as a deacon or on committees is not automatically allowed to roam anywhere on church property without proper authorization. You can see how fun this will be, right?
Church Members Only – Some declare we are legalistic in requiring church membership for service in such areas of ministry. Perhaps this is a holdover from some non-denominational churches loosely explaining church membership. Maybe this is just the natural inclination to see Christianity as an independent “Jesus and me” religion while ignoring the New Testament’s teachings on the doctrine of the local church, the “one anothers” of scripture, and the push against having anyone in authority over us? I don’t know. In this case, I don’t care. Church members have by their declaration of faith an ability to concisely articulate the gospel. They can teach and lead based on biblical standards in line with scripture and defined by our statement of faith. Therefore teenagers and adults who may be volunteering to serve with children must be church members in good standing, must be able to articulate the gospel, and must not be under church discipline. In fact, the church must consider that the most vulnerable and impressionable people who gather at the church each week should have the very best leaders and Bible teachers in our church serving them.
Trained Adults and Teenagers – This may be the easiest thing to skip. Simply put, every adult and teenager MUST be trained regularly. Even those who have taught for decades need training. There is a difference in educational training and religious educational training and this must be clarified. Simply put, just because someone is accomplished as a school teacher does not mean they are trained to be a Sunday school teacher. Every leader serving must remain a learner. Once a leader refuses to learn, that leader has chosen not to lead. The onus is upon the church leadership team to provide regular, updated, new training throughout the year. The expectations are that those who serve will attend.
What about Teenagers Serving with Children? – Some teenagers will be allowed to serve as apprentices within our children’s ministry. However, not all teenagers will be allowed. Only those students who are of a certain age, meet attendance requirements in their own classes, participate in student ministry activities (D-Now, Youth Camp, Mission Trips, etc.) and have completed the regular training offered by our children’s ministry may serve. Serve is the key word here. Thus the teenager who states “I like working with kids. It is more fun than going to my own class,” will likely not be serving. Why? Maturity. Teenagers who cannot articulate the gospel clearly will not be serving? Why? Spiritual maturity. Teenagers who are not baptized believers and members of our church will not serve. Why? Spiritual accountability. Teenagers who do not prepare will not serve? Why? Because of the seriousness of teaching others the truth of scripture. The good news is that we have qualified students and many will be serving at times, but under these guidelines and always alongside an adult leader. Teenagers will never be alone with children or preschoolers. NEVER. This is for everyone’s protection. Also, teenagers will only be allowed to serve in areas where their age difference is substantial, as defined in our policies. This is also true for young adults desiring to serve with our student ministry.
No Child-Care – This has always been a struggle in the church. Sadly, there has been an often held belief that those working with newborns, toddlers, and even preschoolers are simply providing child-care while their parents attend Bible study and worship. The family-integrated model of church provides no such breakdowns of groups by age and everyone is in the room together for everything. Truly, that is a biblical model. However, I do not believe it to be sinful or necessarily unbiblical to provide age-graded groups for biblical education at times. That is our family-equipping model. Yet, there is no allowance biblically or in our church for any such group to be considered simply “child-care.” Even those changing diapers and rocking babies are verbally declaring to those young ears the truths of God’s love and how valuable they are to him. Playtime with toddlers is not simply building a brick wall and tearing it down or doing a coloring page. Everything within the class must be intentional, strategic, and focused on ensuring the message of the Bible and God’s love is declared and shown. This child-care function often accidentally develops, especially with volunteers who serve during the extended teaching time while the worship service is occurring. No more.
Fear – Here is a huge challenge. The more we talk about protocols, policies, background checks, protection, video cameras in rooms, security guidelines, and more, some adults just get overwhelmed thinking “I don’t even want to be near a child for fear of being accused.” I get it. That is a natural response by many. However, let me encourage you not to abandon the call of God to serve his church, and in this case, the most vulnerable of all within the church family. Every single protocol and policy is designed not to instill fear, but to provide clear guidelines and safety guardrails so that the ministry of the gospel may be done well. These steps allow us all to glorify God in our service to the youngest in our church, and it is good for all. Ministry is hard. If it wasn’t, everyone would do it. So do the hard things because it is right and God has called you, within his local church, to serve as part of his team of ministers to the “least of these.”
As we begin to implement that which must be done, we will answer the same questions over and over to workers, church members, parents, and volunteers. Some will balk. Others will just shake their head muttering “We never had to do this before.” And yet…we will do these things.
Why?
Because this issue is a gospel issue, and the children God has entrusted to us matter.
There are dozens of verses that speak to the protection of children and the vulnerable. One that always comes to mind is this one:
Matthew 18:5-6
5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. [1]
I am thankful for the dozens of adults who have said yes to God’s call through his church to serve. In our own church, I know these adults who serve do so for their love of God and for children.
We want to ensure we are the safest place for families to worship together. This will not happen automatically, but it will happen as we serve strategically and intentionally. Let’s be unified in Christ, trusting the Spirit, and serve together for the glory of God and the good of his church. In this case, doing so for the good of the littlest ones in our church family glorifies God.
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[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 18:5–6). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
