What is Safe Sanctuary?

Safe Sanctuary addresses the responsibility of the church to provide a safe and caring environment for all children, youth, and adult volunteers. In part, it sets forth standards for volunteers to ensure that children and youth are safe from sexual predators and abusive persons. Also, it sets forth procedures to ensure that volunteers are not left alone (and thus vulnerable) with children or youth.

Why did FUMC MC develop a Safe Sanctuary policy?

The Bible calls upon people of faith to care for and nurture children and youth, and calls upon the church to be a place of sanctuary. (See Mark 1: 13-16; Matthew 18:6-7; Luke 18: 15-17; Isaiah 11: 1-9; Psalm 27: 4-5.)

The General Conference of The United Methodist Church passed a resolution on "Reducing the Risk of Child Sexual Abuse in the Church" in 1996. It was revised and adopted in 2004. The resolution calls local congregations to develop and implement educational programming on abuse, risk factors, and prevention strategies; to screen all volunteers and paid staff who work with children or youth; to implement procedures designed to prevent abuse.

The Texas Annual Conference passed a resolution in 2004 which implements a Safe Sanctuary policy for all district and conference events effective June 1, 2005. The Conference policy includes the statement: "Each local church is required to adopt a Safe Sanctuary policy for their church by December 31, 2005 and submit the policy to the Area Provost."

A Safe Sanctuary policy helps safeguard all our children, youth and adults, as well as the church itself. Safe Sanctuary policy and procedures "are not based on a lack of trust in workers, but are intended to protect our preschoolers, children, youth, workers, employees, volunteers and the entire church body." (Texas Annual Conference)

What will Safe Sanctuaries mean for our congregation and its ministries?

We will need more volunteers willing to help with children and youth. (A minimum of 2 adults will be required in each classroom.) Volunteers and paid personnel working with children and youth will undergo criminal background screening prior to serving. All persons working with children and youth will receive training on Safe Sanctuary issues. In order for this to happen smoothly, it will be helpful for volunteers to step up to serve more quickly, so we are able to take care of these details.

What does it mean to "screen" volunteers?

In order to safeguard our children and youth, as well as our adult volunteers and the church itself, all volunteers (and paid staff) undergo a criminal background check. This confidential check is run through the company with which the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church has contracted, and seeks to identify persons who have criminal histories of child abuse/molestation/neglect and all violent offenses, as well as recent (less than 5 years) drug-related or DWI/DUI offenses. All information is kept confidential. The determination of whether a particular crime is serious enough to result in the church giving a negative recommendation shall be made by FUMCMC in its sole discretion. Persons with these histories will be invited to serve in other ministry areas, rather than will children and youth.