For churches large and small, providing safety and security for their children’s ministry participants is a major area of concern these days.
Martin Sinderman · April 13, 2017
For churches both large and small, providing safety and security for participants in their children’s ministry (also known in some circles as “KidMin”) is one of their major areas of concern these days.
Addressing the issues involved in children’s ministry safety and security requires a lot of input and expertise from a variety of subject areas.
And if you’re the person in charge at your church – there are likely a lot of eyes watching how successful you are.
“Your kid’s ministry can and should be fun and engaging, and you can have a plethora of volunteers and exciting events – but the number one concern for parents is the safety of their most prized possessions while they’re in your care,” notes Danny Watterson, an executive search consultant with Houston, Texas-based Vanderbloemen Search Group, a retained executive search firm serving churches and faith-based organizations.
General Concepts for Security in Your Children’s Church Space
In his “5 Ways to Ensure Your Children’s Ministry is Safe & Secure” blog on the Vanderbloemen website (www.vanderbloemen.com), Watterson (whose experience includes 17 years in full-time ministry) recommends having the following mechanisms in place:
1) Full background/criminal checks for all volunteers – “Every person that steps foot into your children’s ministry to serve in any capacity should be run through a full background/criminal check, as well as cross-referenced with the national sex-offender database,” he says.
2) Official check-in and out processes – These are paramount to children’s safety, according to Watterson. Formulate a “permission policy” comprised of rules regarding who is allowed to check kids out of children’s ministry facilities, he notes. The policy should address issues such as whether older kids should be able to check their younger siblings out of the program; and, should a parent that did not check the child into the program be able to check them out.
Martin Sinderman