Are we acting like our church is immune to child sexual abuse? Have we considered what would happen if a child is abused in our church? Are we fulfilling our responsibility before God to protect the children of our church from harm? Do we understand the legal grounds on which our church could be sued if a child is sexually abused? Do we understand the benefits of having a program to prevent child sexual abuse? How should we screen our child/youth workers? How should we supervise our child/youth workers? How should we identify and report incidents of sexual abuse? How should we respond to incidents of sexual abuse? How do we persuade our people to cooperate with a program to prevent abuse?

If you find yourself unsure about the answers to these questions, there are several steps that you can take. First begin a discussion of this subject with your pastor and other leaders of your church. You may want to include an attorney and your church's insurance agent if available. Second, order from Cokesbury the following books: Safe Sanctuaries - Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in the Church and Safe Sanctuaries - Youth Edition by Joy Thornburg Melton. Share these books with your church leaders and those who do ministry with your children and youth.

Our Recommendation is to adopt a Child Protection Policy for all events sponsored  which involve children and/or youth.
I look forward to the day when all of our  Alabama churches are using the best possible practices in child supervision and protection. Please pray for our churches, children, and youth as we take steps to keep them safe while they are in our care.