XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church—items like job descriptions, employment applications, Review Forms and policies.  Below is the Children’s Ministry Policy of Old North Church of Canfield, Ohio.

All policies and procedures are in place to protect the children, volunteers, and paid workers.

Volunteer Qualifications

  • Individuals must be regular attenders of Old North before they can begin serving in the Children’s Ministry.
  • Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older.
  • All volunteers must have a current signed Volunteer Application on file with the church.
  • Youth Helpers (youth ages 13-17) may volunteer to work with children, but must be under the supervision of an adult who has met the qualifications in these policies.
  • Youth workers in the Infant and Crawlers rooms must be 17 years of age or older.
  • Youth workers under age 16 are not to physically pick up children in the nurseries. They are encouraged to sit in a chair or on the floor to hold a child.

Application Procedure

  • All volunteers must complete a Volunteer Application.
  • Background checks will be performed on all volunteers desiring to work in the Children’s Ministry.
  • The Volunteer Application, References, and the results of the Background Check will remain confidential and will be stored in a secured file at the church.
  • Volunteers are reviewed annually by the Children’s Pastor and Coordinators for re-appointment to their current or new positions.

Identification

  • Each volunteer must wear a name tag. This is the only way for a visitor to know who is a leader.
  • Each child must wear their name tag during the entire ministry time.

Check-In and Dismissal Procedures

  • All visitors or children not on the official roster must check in at the Children’s Ministry Registration desk.
  • Parents will be provided a security card when a child is dropped off.
  • All children up through 4th grade should be escorted to their classrooms by parents or other adults.
  • Parents should not enter rooms when dropping off children.
  • Our paging system allows us to contact parents, if needed.
  • Individuals (including siblings) under the age of 16 are not permitted to drop off or pick up a child in the Children’s Ministry Department.

Restroom Procedures

  • Volunteers are not to enter a restroom with a child unless that child needs assistance. In that case, the door is to be left partially open, with a second caregiver standing at the entrance so he/she can see inside the restroom and watch the children in the classroom or hallway.
  • Diapers must be changed within view of other nursery workers.
  • Workers are to wash/sanitize hands after changing a diaper or helping a child in the restroom.

Illness

  • We do not provide care for sick children—our facilities and staff are too limited.
  • Children will not be accepted into a classroom if they exhibit any of the following symptoms of illness.
    • Matter in the eyes
    • Frequent coughing
    • Runny nose (anything but clear discharge)
    • Fever 100 or higher
    • Vomiting
    • Diarrhea
    • If any of these symptoms appear during the class time, parents will be notified immediately and the child will be removed from the class.
  • Medication should not be administered to children by volunteers (with the exception of topical first aid cream on small scrapes or cuts).
  • Children who have been sick should not attend church activities until at least 24 hours since last vomiting.
  • Any child on antibiotic must have received the first dose at least 48 hours prior to entering the nursery or classroom.
  •  In the event of a bodily fluid accident (vomiting, diarrhea, blood, etc.), immediately move the other children from the area and contact the director on duty.
  • Rubber gloves should be used to clean up any accident involving bodily fluids.
  • We ask you not to volunteer if you are sick. Please notify the coordinator as soon as you are able to line up a replacement.

Accidents

  • A First Aid kit is available in the resource room.
  • Any incidents such as biting, hitting, falling, etc. should be recorded on the appropriate Accident/Incident Report Form, with parents being notified at the time of pick up. The teacher, director and parent all need to sign this form.
  • Children who bite are removed from the nursery upon the first occurrence and parents are asked to take them for the remainder of that day.
  • If a child is injured in any way, please notify the director on duty and fill out an Accident/Incident Report Form.
  • In case of a minor injury, you do not need to get parents, but you do need to notify them when they pick up their child.
  • In case of a major emergency:
    • Do not move the child.
    • Do not leave the child. Send the other volunteer to get help.
    • Contact the director on duty, the coordinator or Children’s Pastor immediately.

Discipline

  • Corporal (physical) punishment is never allowed in the Children’s Ministry Department. This is true even with your own child because an observer may not know that it is your child.
  • Discipline is a time for teaching (discipling), not just punishment.
  • When inappropriate behavior takes place, first stop the inappropriate behavior; second communicate with them what they did wrong; and third help them find another, more appropriate way to behave.
  • After three warnings, contact the director and they will locate the parents.

Director

A director will be on duty at all times to assist any teacher or to provide emergency assistance. Directors will roam the hallways, checking on the classrooms throughout the class time.

Exceptions

  • The policies and procedures here are not all-inclusive and may be changed at any time. Also, many policies specific to certain departments and/or events within the Children’s Ministry may not be listed here. The list is intended to provide a general idea of what procedures should be in place, but is not intended to be a complete and accurate statement of each and every measure in place.
  • It is understood that circumstances may arise that necessitate the need for deviating from this policy. For such infrequent and unusual situations that are not easily classified elsewhere in this policy, the standards and spirit of this policy shall be recognized as being in force. Exceptions should be cleared with the Children’s Pastor in advance. If an unavoidable or uncorrectable deviation is observed, please notify the Children’s Pastor as soon as possible for your own protection.

View original PDF: Children’s Ministry Policy