Safer Sanctuaries require the whole congregation
BY REBEKAH HASTY
Recently three representatives from the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference office attended Train-theTrainer: Safer Sanctuaries, in Kansas City, Missouri. Nancy Hamilton, Wanda Clark, and I focused on the vital importance of Safe Sanctuaries for our local churches, camps, and missions.
During the threeday event, Rev. Dr. Kevin Johnson, Director, Children’s Ministries for Congregational Vitality & Intentional Discipleship and Kelly Peterson, executive director and CEO of Camp Fire Heart of Iowa with years of experience with the California-Nevada Annual Conference and the Division of Young People’s Ministries, shared their wealth of knowledge and insight over decades of working with safe sanctuaries in multiple settings.
The training focus was on a new publication, Safe Sanctuaries: Nurturing Trust within Faith Communities. This in-depth training and educational guide focus on a more congregational holistic take on safe sanctuaries, where it is more an organic focus of a church or organization, rather than reliance on a few leaders and volunteers.
“Create a network of champions to help create the Safe Sanctuaries policies and procedures in your congregation. This is a communal effort and should be done in community,” instructed Johnson. “Never forget that the people in your community are your greatest resource in reducing the risk of abuse.”
It is imperative to have an up to date safe sanctuary policy along with procedures that include in depth volunteer screening, background checks, and annual trainings. Every adult should be trained to become a champion for each child, youth, and vulnerable adult within the ministry. It is necessary to learn the signs of abuse and grooming. Staying up to date on trainings and remaining focused and vigilant is what makes the difference in protecting those who are vulnerable.
In the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference, we have taken steps to better protect our children and vulnerable adults by using a training and background check platform called Ministry Safe. The training portion is available to all local churches free of charge, plus the fee of a Level Three background check.
However, this is only the first step in ensuring our local churches are safe for our most vulnerable congregants. The team’s most important take away from the training is that “Everyone must do Everything possible to keep Everyone Safe!” Keeping our churches safe is not a once a year training, but an ongoing process to ensure all those who walk in our doors are in a safe environment where they can freely encounter the love of Jesus Christ.