Follow Me On Twitter
Subscribe to the Network#7 of Top Twelve Tips for a GREAT YM Year
Why do small churches fight it? It is so simple, just do it! Yet, when I go into churches to do an assessment, this is a gaping hole on the ”we haven’t done that yet” list. Geez, churches!
Background checks. Whether its the “we don’t want to offend Miss Donna who has been teaching since 1915″ or the “do we really have to spend the money?” to “What if we find something wrong” excuses…it has to be done. Did you know that a registered sex offender attempts to join into the work of a non-profit organization every 43 minutes.
Read what my friend, Matthew Fry, had to say about his experience at his new rural church:
My best example of this is with doing background checks on volunteers. When I came on staff I asked what the policy was. They stated that they usually called the police station, when one of their friends was working, and they would run the name through the system. I then asked them what kind of documentation we would have on file to prove we had done a background check if we ever needed to prove it. I was met with a blank stare. It was as if I was speaking a foreign language. I informed them that completing the checks and having the results on file helps protect everyone involved: the church, our students and our volunteer leaders. I have been met time after time with various excuses as to why we don’t need to do them. Many deal with the very fact that we’re a small church. That everyone knows everyone. That they’re an unnecessary expenditure. And even “the people serving here have been going here for years.”
I’ve tried convincing them that we’re one incident away from losing a brand new building. I’ve tried to convince them that there are people in the world who prey on organizations, like ours, that are naive to our responsibilities. I’ve tried convincing them that ignorance isn’t an excuse if we were ever to need to defend ourselves in court. I’ve tried my best to break this mindset that we’re not a church of 30-40, but we’re an average size church without the policies in place to protect ourselves.
Is it still considered flirting with disaster if you pretender that a disaster couldn’t happen to you?
Yep, that’s my rant du jour.
Stephanie
Related posts:
