Covenant Church's Policies on Safe Sanctuaries
In order to meet the mandate of the WNCCUMC, The Safe Sanctuaries Team received approval of the Administrative Board at the August 8, 2005 meeting of the following guidelines on background references for volunteers with Children and Youth Ministries
1. All folks volunteering in Children and Youth Ministry areas ( Nurseries, Sunday School, etc.) would be asked to complete a Background Check and Reference Form. These forms would include
A. Names of 2 personal references who can be contacted by a Staff member
B. Volunteer/work experience related to the ministry
C. Permission to conduct an internet search of criminal convictions and Child Sex Offender Registry - (these are public domain sites & can be accessed by anyone within our congregation)
D. Commitment to a Participation Pledge that indicates their willingness to abide by:
- maintaining the 2-Adult rule in the classroom or have an open door in all rooms, with an Adult responsible for checking in on all rooms
- acknowledging that no one convicted of child abuse/neglect can volunteer with our children/youth
- to adhere to the waiting period before fully committing to a volunteer capacity (3 months as a member; 6 months as a non member) during which time job shadowing/training will occur
- to attend all training for teaching, policy and procedure review and First Aid/CPR training to be better prepared for the position
2. That, in addition to the above, all volunteers who will be working with Youth Ministry and attending retreats and other overnight functions, will complete a full background check, including fingerprinting and DMV records check for those driving groups, and it will be placed on file.
3. That all documents in these forms will be reviewed ONLY by church staff (Sr. Pastor, Associate Pastor, Director of Education/Children, Music Director and Lay Ministry) and will be stored in a locked file cabinet in the Sr. Pastor's office and held strictly confidential. Information will only be shared within Staff and volunteer lists will be created in a way that does not indicate the status of results of a person's negative results.
4. That the Safe Sanctuaries Team would agree to be the "pilot group" for these background and reference checks and complete these forms as a show of good faith and belief that these are the necessary steps that our congregation should take in order to protect our Children, Youth and Volunteers.
Beginning in 2005, these policies were put into place here at Covenant Church, to protect our children, youth and volunteers who work with them.
Please take a moment today to complete your own copy of the Safe Sanctuary form and return it in a sealed envelope to our Director of Education or our Youth Pastor in the church office. We appreciate your willingness to serve and cooperate with our commitment to our children and youth.
Covenant Church Policy on Safe Sanctuaries
Application - Page 1 Page 2
Covenant Church's Policies on Safe Sanctuaries
In order to meet the mandate of the WNCCUMC, The Safe Sanctuaries Team received approval of the Administrative Board at the August 8, 2005 meeting of the following guidelines on background references for volunteers with Children and Youth Ministries
1. All folks volunteering in Children and Youth Ministry areas ( Nurseries, Sunday School, etc.) would be asked to complete a Background Check and Reference Form. These forms would include
A. Names of 2 personal references who can be contacted by a Staff member
B. Volunteer/work experience related to the ministry
C. Permission to conduct an internet search of criminal convictions and Child Sex Offender Registry - (these are public domain sites & can be accessed by anyone within our congregation)
D. Commitment to a Participation Pledge that indicates their willingness to abide by:
- maintaining the 2-Adult rule in the classroom or have an open door in all rooms, with an Adult responsible for checking in on all rooms
- acknowledging that no one convicted of child abuse/neglect can volunteer with our children/youth
- to adhere to the waiting period before fully committing to a volunteer capacity (3 months as a member; 6 months as a non member) during which time job shadowing/training will occur
- to attend all training for teaching, policy and procedure review and First Aid/CPR training to be better prepared for the position
2. That, in addition to the above, all volunteers who will be working with Youth Ministry and attending retreats and other overnight functions, will complete a full background check, including fingerprinting and DMV records check for those driving groups, and it will be placed on file.
3. That all documents in these forms will be reviewed ONLY by church staff (Sr. Pastor, Associate Pastor, Director of Education/Children, Music Director and Lay Ministry) and will be stored in a locked file cabinet in the Sr. Pastor's office and held strictly confidential. Information will only be shared within Staff and volunteer lists will be created in a way that does not indicate the status of results of a person's negative results.
4. That the Safe Sanctuaries Team would agree to be the "pilot group" for these background and reference checks and complete these forms as a show of good faith and belief that these are the necessary steps that our congregation should take in order to protect our Children, Youth and Volunteers.
Beginning in 2005, these policies were put into place here at Covenant Church, to protect our children, youth and volunteers who work with them.
Please take a moment today to complete your own copy of the Safe Sanctuary form and return it in a sealed envelope to our Director of Education or our Youth Pastor in the church office. We appreciate your willingness to serve and cooperate with our commitment to our children and youth.
Covenant Church Policy on Safe Sanctuaries
Application - Page 1 Page 2