Thursday, January 28th, 2016
As a teacher, staff member, or volunteer, you wear many hats. You pass on knowledge, clean up spills, keep order—and that’s just in the first hour of spending time with a group of kids! No matter what our role, as leaders we are tasked with recognizing and responding to abuse. Because of this, we should […]
Read More >>Wednesday, January 27th, 2016
If you’ve seen or heard about the movie “Spotlight,” you know it’s about the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe journalist team and its early-2000s expose of the clergy abuse cover-up in the Boston area and beyond. What it brings to the fore is the amount of unsupervised access that clergy had to children. Parents trusted church […]
Read More >>Wednesday, January 27th, 2016
When many people hear the word “hazing,” their minds often go straight to the college fraternity scenario. However, just as bullies aren’t limited to elementary school playgrounds, hazing isn’t limited to the university setting. Hazing happens at many different ages, in many different venues. Although it can be mistaken for bullying, hazing and the behaviors […]
Read More >>Wednesday, January 27th, 2016
Imagine this scenario: You volunteer with 5-year-olds in the children’s Sunday school program at your church. One of your co-volunteers, Doug, gives children a “swat” when they are acting up. You mentioned to him that it isn’t a great idea, but Doug says he is just doing what he does with his own kids. Should […]
Read More >>Wednesday, January 27th, 2016
Speaking of two-deep leadership, do you have at least two people in your church who are authorized to administer the Safe Gatherings system? In the Safe Gatherings system, one person is designated as administrator of the system. Typically, the person listed is the senior pastor. However, the senior pastor often does not have the time […]
Read More >>Tuesday, January 12th, 2016
It’s nearly the middle of January, can you believe it? Now that you’ve recovered from your shock of realizing that January is quickly slipping through your fingers, we want to know: What are you doing for child protection this year? What specific measures are you implementing to protect those vulnerable populations: children, youth, and vulnerable […]
Read More >>Monday, December 28th, 2015
The holidays are a time of family, gatherings, and great joy for many. But for others, this time of year can bring about feelings of sadness and isolation. These feelings may be because of a recent tragedy or a memory from long ago, or there may be ongoing family troubles. There are many people across […]
Read More >>Friday, December 4th, 2015
Do you find that there are weeks when it seems as if there is nothing positive happening in the world? Weeks when the news, social media, and the headlines are filled hourly with updates about extremely terrible situations? This week’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., coupled with other natural disasters, violence, and abuse happening all over the world, made it […]
Read More >>Wednesday, November 25th, 2015
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from the staff at Safe Gatherings!
Read More >>Friday, November 13th, 2015
We must keep a watchful eye out for the elderly in our churches and communities, as many of them are not able to advocate for themselves. Here is an interesting article about the topic, which is not spoken about often enough!
Read More >>Tuesday, October 27th, 2015
This past June, a federal jury convicted Matthew Lane Durham, a 20-year-old, of illicit conduct with children at a Kenyan orphanage that specializes in caring for neglected children. The Edmond, Okla., resident had served as a volunteer at the Upendo Children’s Home in Nairobi since 2012. He was convicted on charges involving girls ranging from […]
Read More >>Tuesday, October 27th, 2015
Churches are designed to welcome all sorts of people, from the youngest child in the nursery to the oldest congregant. In between, your church has staff members and volunteers of all ages, and that’s great! This age diversity, though, can be accompanied by communication challenges. Older members may speak of times where it was common […]
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