By Joy Melton

This summer has flown by and now we're all gearing up for a new year of Sunday school. Many of our congregations are also preparing to start a new school year in their pre-school programs. Our churches are preparing to welcome the children and youth into our ministries for a new school year. Has your congregation filled all its vacancies for teachers, aides, and youth counselors? If your situation is like mine, then you are always in the market for a few more willing and enthusiastic volunteers! Has your Board of Trustees completed the annual safety inspection of your property and facilities? This is the perfect time to do it.

August and September are the two months of the year when congregations are most heavily involved in recruiting and training new leaders and teachers for children and youth. Here are three items for your consideration.

First: What recruiting methods and techniques you use?

• Do you check personal references for each person who volunteers to work with children or youth?
• Do you require that each volunteer worker have already been a regular participant in your congregation for at least six months before beginning to work with the children?

By asking for references, and checking the references, you will gain valuable information about the volunteers' gifts and talents for working with children or youth. This will assist you in placing the volunteers in the positions best suited to their skills and experience. Requiring that all volunteer workers participate in your congregation for at least six months before being assigned to a position gives you have a greater measure of familiarity with each person's talents and abilities from first-hand observation

Second: What training you are providing your workers with children and youth?

• Does it include training in first aid? The value of first aid training for our volunteers can never be overestimated!

Where children are involved, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. Knowing where the first aid kit is, as well as how to use it, is vital. Many churches are also providing CPR training for volunteers and paid staff members. If your church can provide such training, you will provide a greater measure of safety for everyone.

Third: Have you completed the annual safety inspection of your property and facilities?

• Have you checked on "out of the way" places, like stairwells? Are they clean and clear? Can you get locked in or locked out?
• Are the usually unnoticed, permanent parts of the property still secure, such as handrails? It had not crossed my mind to check on this until a child was injured because he reached for the handrail and it came out of the wall instead of holding steady!
• Are the "perishable/ limited life" features up to date and functional, such as batteries in fire alarms and flashlights and pressure in fire extinguishers?

The Trustees have this responsibility, and conducting this inspection before everything starts up for the new school year is a great idea. A proper and thorough inspection includes checking all fire extinguishers; checking the heating, cooling, and electrical systems; making sure all the seating and tables are in good repair; and checking all stairways, parking lots, driveways, bathroom facilities, and other areas of your property to be sure they are free of hazardous conditions.

Start the new year of Sunday school off right with a great group of enthusiastic and well-informed volunteers. Give them the training and resources they need to make our children and youth feel welcomed in the community of faith. At the same time, you will be protecting your workers from unnecessary risks and your congregation from unmerited litigation.  

If you would like more guidance for conducting the back to school safety inspection, or for conducting criminal background checks for your workers, please feel free to contact me at jmelton@gcfa.org  so that I can provide you additional information from the United Methodist Property and Casualty Trust Company. 

Joy Melton is the Chief Resource Office of the United Methodist Property and Casualty Trust and a Deacon in Full Connection in the North Georgia Annual Conference. She can be contacted at jmelton@gcfa.org and 770-512-8383.

Safe Sanctuaries: Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in the Church, by Joy Thornburg Melton (Discipleship Resources, 1998).

Safe Sanctuaries for Youth: Reducing the Risk of Abuse in Youth Ministries, by Joy Thornton Melton (Discipleship Resources, 2003).

General Board of Global Ministries / Health and Welfare section. Information on local church accessibility and much more: http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/work/health/disc/

General Council on Finance and Administration legal manual, for helps with numerous safety, policy, and personnel issues: http://www.gcfa.org/ls_legalmanual.html