Predators
Predators come from all walks of life and want to prey on your church …
Background Check Blueprint
When making personnel decisions including hiring, retention, promotion, and reassignment, employers and organizations sometimes want to consider the backgrounds of volunteers and employees. For example, some organizations might try to find out about the person’s [...]
An Insurance Company on Child Protection
Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company has a free, 60-page ebook, Child Protection in a Ministry Environment: Guidelines for Ministry Workers. With sample policies and forms, the major areas of the book are: Identifying Abuse: Disrupting [...]
An HR Professional’s Perspective on Reference Checks
Tiffany Henning is an expert in human resource issues. Henning earned certifications of Professional Human Resource (PHR) and Chartered Retirement Professional Counselor (CRPC). She created a non-profit human resource network called HR Ministry Solutions [...]
WheatFields’ Report Card on Church Safety
In Fletch’s book, Predators—The Case of the Church Embezzler, uses a fictional case study of WheatFields Good News Church. Executive Pastor Dan Black created a report card to evaluate how the church is doing [...]
From Pastors in Sutherland Springs, Texas
On May 19, 2019, David and Tami Fletcher met for over three hours with Frank Pomeroy, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Paul Buford, Senior Pastor of River Oaks Church of [...]
Developing a Church Safety Team
Insurance agents and companies often have a trove of helpful information for churches. The insurance company desires to avert tragedy from your people, prevent incidents at your church and keep all parties out of [...]
Communicating a Crisis
Depending on the nature of the crisis, there are various levels of communication necessary. Determine the facts of the precipitating event. Be accurate and report just the facts. Note if someone has been arrested [...]
A Federal Agent on Safety & Concealed Weapons
Often a Risk Management Team will begin as WheatFields’ did—see The Case of the Church Embezzler.” The church knows something must be done, but does not know the needed scope. Experts help teams learn [...]
Tools for Averting Predators—Preventing and Discovering Fraud
These tools are provided by The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. With its mission of Enhancing Trust, ECFA now certifies nearly 2,300 Christ-centered churches and ministries based on its high standards in financial management, [...]
Reflections from an Attorney on Sexual Offenders
Eventually most churches encounter a known registered sex offender who is either already in the congregation or desires to attend. Trying to determine whether or how to live with a wolf is dangerous and fraught [...]
Strategic Designs for Active Shooter Readiness
Use this Report Card to help you evaluate your readiness for an event at your church. Score 0 for not prepared to a 10 for fully prepared. 1. Is there a standardized campus-wide warning [...]
Email Scams Targeting Churches
There are two email scams occurring with increasing frequency. These scams hurt churches in two ways, by stealing finances and by breaking congregational trust. What are these scams? What can or should you do [...]
An Executive Minister on Church Event Safety
Our youth and children’s ministers recently said, “This is one of the most spiritually transformational events that we do.” We were discussing a camp for elementary age kids where our youth serve as counselors. [...]
Reflections From a Chief of Police
1. Make It Easy for the Cops Today’s public safety personnel are busy. Given the workload placed on public safety, anything you can do to make their job easier is greatly appreciated. Collect the [...]
Preventing Sexual Abuse in Your Church
Sex abuse claims remain the top reason churches go to court each year. Fletch interviews Matthew Branaugh, editor for Christianity Today’s ChurchLawAndTax.com, about this troubling ongoing trend in the church. What policies and protocols [...]
The Complexity of Today’s Church—New Risks We Face
Learn from a Compiled Case Study Dan Black, Executive Pastor of WheatFields Good News Church, thought on what had been said at the Risk Management Team meeting. “Maybe I need a better handle on [...]
Bullying and Harassment
Hey Fletch … An article on XPastor mentions a doctoral dissertation by Dr. Art Hunt, I Never Expected This Would Happen To Me. I would be very grateful if you could let me know how [...]
Security Cameras in Children’s Classrooms
Friday, March 1, 2019 Hey Fletch … Do you have any thoughts on putting security cameras in children’s ministry classrooms? If this is something you recommend, do you have any recommendations as to companies [...]
Emergency Preparedness Plan
Monday, December 17, 2018 Hey Fletch … Do you provide on XPastor any emergency preparedness plan templates for churches? DRF—We have some information on emergency response plans. Here is a link to various posts on [...]
How Your Ministry Can Help Prevent Child Abuse Through a Safety System
In past months, scores of allegations of child sexual abuse have come to light, many for the first time. On the heels of these revelations, churches and ministries have begun to better understand that [...]
Sexual Abuse Risk and Record Retention
Every child-serving organization is responsible for the protection of children in its care. To discharge that responsibility, the organization should take reasonable steps to create an effective safety system that prevents child sexual abuse. [...]
Mandated Reporting of Sexual Abuse
Thursday, August 16, 2018 Hey Fletch … I’ve been reading in the “Hey Fletch” columns about sexual abuse. Normally I think of that as between an adult and a minor. What about sexual activity between [...]
Sexual Abuse in the Church
Friday, August 3, 2018 Hey Fletch … Do you have any articles concerning sexual abuse policies in the church? DRF—Attorneys Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris are some of the best people working on the [...]
How Can We Keep Our Church Safe?
Monday, July 30, 2018 Hey Fletch … With all the craziness in the world, our church is concerned about safety and security. What can you recommend? DRF—Here is what the Federal Bureau of Investigation says: [...]