In 1998, First Baptist Church took proactive steps to create a program called Protecting Our Children, a preventive measure to reduce the risk of child sexual abuse occurring in our church. Through the years, we have revised our program to include training classes, screening forms and background checks. In 2020, we made significant enhancements to our program, and I want to give you an overview of Protecting Our Children as it stands today.
The policy document has been rewritten to include best practices for protecting all children in our care whether they are attending a program within the church walls or traveling for a mission trip or retreat. The new policy document is available by visiting the church website. I urge everyone to review the document whether or not you work with children.
• All employees of the church, no matter their position, will complete this process prior to employment and thereafter, every 3 years.
• Anyone who volunteers, in any capacity which involves children, is required to complete this process prior to beginning their volunteer service. Certification will be renewed every 3 years.
• The first step is to fill out a screening form and DSS Consent form and return them to me:
Juli Morrow
First Baptist Church
847 Cleveland Street
Greenville, SC 29601
If you prefer, you may bring the forms to the office and leave them at the reception desk or scan them and email to me.
• After receiving your forms, I will create an account in your name for our online training classes and send you the login instructions. There is a short quiz at the conclusion of each video. Results from the quizzes will automatically be sent to me.
Only those persons who have successfully completed the screening process will be allowed to work with children.
Prior to any activity the managing staff member will review instructions and best practices with all volunteers and chaperones.
If you have not completed Protecting Our Children since last Spring, please take a few minutes to fill out the screening form mentioned above and send it to me. Processing the paperwork and requesting/receiving background checks is a lengthy process for me, so please don’t wait to get started. We want everyone to be able to resume their typical activities and responsibilities in August. If you’re not sure if you have done our updated program, let me know, and I will check for you. Thank you to those who have already been proactive in this area; please encourage others that you know to do the same…
—Juli