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Sacha Baron Cohen, the creator of the infamous movie Borat, is filming another movie called Bruno. It is about Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion reporter, who is one of Baron Cohen’s many comic personalities. Because Christians are stereotyped as antihomosexual and homophobic, Bruno has already interviewed a pastor, a Christian musician, and an event sponsor from a Christian Rock festival. His goal is controversy, and he usually gets it.

Earlier this month, Bruno and his film crew crashed the Easter play at Central Community Church (Wichita, KS). Bruno’s crew told the church they were working on a documentary for German TV One, and they asked the congregation to sign waivers and provide their Social Security Numbers. But church staff discovered their real intentions when -

One of our pastors (Clint Dunn) came around in the back hallway, and they were surrounding a biblically dressed person in chains on a cart.
Greg Smith :: Executive Pastor :: Central Community Church

Pastor Clint Dunn locked the doors to prevent Bruno from interrupting the end of the Easter play, and he told the audience to go home. Bruno’s film crew even went as far as preparing to cover security cameras for the prank. It is a reminder that, in the pursuit of laughs, some are willing to disrupt the Church’s mission of saving lives.

On his blog, Greg Smith offers the lessons his church has learned from almost being pranked by Bruno.

For Discussion:
- What are some best practices for ushers, staff, and church security for preventing disruptions or harm during a church service?

[ via KAKE-TV & Family News in Focus]

Vision 20/20 has created a free online sex offender locator tool that lets you search for predators within a specific community. The tool not only shows you the location of each registered sex offender in you community but also allows you to learn more about each sex offender including what offences they have committed and a what they look like.

This is a great resource for church security departments who want to be aware of and be able to recognize people who visit their church who have previously been convicted of a crime such as “lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years” or “child pornography.” Family Watchdog also offers a similar resource.

As we have discussed before, the sad reality is that 16% of boys and 20% of girls are sexually molested before their 18th birthday. It is your church’s responsibility to keep its children safe while attending church. Be aware of what threats may be living just a few blocks away.

[via TechCrunch]

In recent weeks, I have seen a number of articles discussing the new extremes that parents are taking to keep their kids safe at school.

In Britain, parents are buying stab-proof school uniforms by BladeRunner that are lined with kevlar. And Trutex is considering adding GPS tracking devices to school uniforms. In the United States, MJ Safety Solutions sells bulletproof backpacks.

A year ago, people were talking about creating kevlar textbook covers to use as shields during school shootings. Now students can be covered in kevlar and body armor while being constantly tracked by satellites. Life as a student is not what it used to be. And life as a parent is becoming more paranoid.

Churches can expect an increasing number of parents to be wondering, “Can I trust this children’s ministry with my kids?” What are you doing to keep kids safe at your church?

Do you background check your staff and volunteers? Do you have a system for checking kids in and out of classrooms? Are all entrances and exits monitored? Do you have surveillance cameras, security guards, or police officers? Obviously, the level of your security depends on the size of your church, but you should be doing something.

There are a lot of paranoid parents, and if they do not feel like their children are safe, they will not be able to pay attention to the sermon. Pastors must protect their flock.

USA Today recently shared some disturbing research about life for kids today. According to University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center: 

• 4% (1 in 25) of youths ages 10-17 who surf the Internet are asked at some point during the year to transmit a sexual picture of themselves.
• 10% (1 in 10) are asked to send photos of themselves.

The study also revealed that a rising share of youths were harassed and bullied online, often by peers, and more were exposed to unwanted child porn. One in three youths saw such porn while surfing the Internet in 2005, up from one in four in 2000.

Without question, kids today encounter more predators and perverts than the kids of twenty years ago. The issues that 10 year olds are facing today are the topics that were reserved for youth groups or college ministries in the past. Elementary school children are encountering far greater problems than just being tempted to steal a candy bar at grocery store.

But addressing these problems can be difficult for children’s ministers because the gap between the “sheltered” kids and the “over-exposed” kids seems to be ever-widening. I believe that such topics can be handled tactfully, but children’s ministers must be well aware of what life is like at their students’ ages on a national scale as well as locally.

It may surprise you how often some young children are approached with cyberbullying, drugs, alchohol, or sex, but it is a sad reality for many students. And ignoring or being oblivious to such tough topics will only create a bigger disconnect between students and the church.

On a similar note, have good church security, create guidelines for teacher/student conduct, and background check every volunteer and staff member.

Also, check out these previous statistics we highlighted last August.

North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) is offering a free behind-the-scenes look at their administrative culture including free downloads of many of their administrative documents. The site is called Nside Admin, and it explores the inner workings of North Point Community Church’s

• Church Government
  >> governing documents
  >> leadership committees
• Human Resources & Accounting
  >> north point ministries general organization
  >> personnel
  >> budget
  >> financial reporting
  >> childcare reimbursements
• Facilities
  >> general information/layouts
  >> events
  >> maintenance
  >> safety & security
• Information Tech & Web
  >> it operations
  >> database management
  >> internal website
  >> faq

If your role in ministry is church administration, be sure to take the time to learn how NPCC does things. Learning how other churches do what you do will often teach you new ways to be more efficient and effective. Never stop learning.

[via Monday Morning Insight]

Last month, Reuters reported on a 3-year-old in London who was deft enough to buy a pink convertible on the Internet.

Jack Neal briefly became the proud owner of a pink convertible car after he managed to buy it for 9,000 pounds on the Internet despite being only three years old.

Jack’s mother told the BBC she had left her password for the eBay auction site in her computer and her son used the “buy it now” option to complete the purchase.

The moral of the story is children are capable of almost anything. Childproof your church for the “Jack Neal” in your children’s ministry. This does not mean take out all the fun. Childproofing your church means identifying all the potential safetey and financial (e.g., expensive equipment in precarious places) risks and implementing solutions to prevent problems. It keeps kids happy, safe, and having fun.

Special thanks to MarketingProfs:DailyFix for highlighting the story.

If your church does not have an employed or volunteer security team, get one. The world can be an ugly place. Consider the following statistics from Family Watchdog:

• 1 of 5 girls will be sexually molested before her 18th birthday.
• 1 of 6 boys will be sexually molested before his 18th birthday.
• 1 of 5 children have been propositioned for sex over the Internet.
• 2 of 3 sexual abuses are perpetrated against teenagers or younger children.
• 90% of sexual assaults are committed against someone the perpetrator knows.
• The median age for female molestation victims under 18 is 9.8 years old.
• The median age for female molestation victims under 18 is 9.6 years old.
• There are new 400,000 victims of sexual assault every year.
• There are over 550,000 registered sex offenders in the US.
• There are over 100,000 sex offenders that fail to register in the US.
• 76% of serial rapists claim they were molested as children.
• Over 40% of male juvenile delinquents were molested as children.

Churches without a security team or background checks for volunteers are an open invitation to predators.

Special thanks to transitionpete.org for highlighting the statistics.

Volunteers are great! But are they a security risk to your church? Does your church have security measures to keep sex offenders and serious criminals out of your volunteer ranks? The last thing you want is one lurking in your children’s ministry. Although it costs money, it is well worth it to keep your congregation safe and to avoid the risk of devastating news stories if something did go wrong.

One reliable solution is Accufax. They offer six different volunteer screening packages ranging from $17 to $49.45 to accommodate each church’s varying needs for security. The most extensive background check provides:

• State & County Criminal Record Search
• Department of Corrections Records
• Sex Offender Registry Information
• Social Security Number/Previous Address Search
• National Statewide Criminal Check
• National Federal Criminal Check

According to their website:
Under the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) guidelines, your organization has certain legal responsibilities as well as other Federal laws such as the EEOC, and State regulations, regardless of the source of the information.

If you become an Accufax member, they will keep you up to date on regulations and laws that may affect you and your volunteer organization.