Protecting Our Children

We want you to know that here at First Baptist Community Church, we take the responsibility to care for and protect the children under our care very seriously. With repeated news reports of children being sexually abused by people that they trust, we want to make sure that we take every possible step to protect our children from this type of abuse. In order to provide that protection, we have created and implemented policies and procedures to minimize the risk of child sexual abuse. Below is the introduction taken from our Child Protection Policy. We want you to feel comfortable that your children are safe when they participate in our ministries. If you would like more information on the policy, please feel free to contact us.

Child Protection Policy

Introduction

In our society today, child sexual abuse is a serious problem. It is clear that churches are not exempt from these problems. In fact, churches that neglect establishing appropriate policies and procedures have become a target of sexual predators because it is easy for them to gain access to children. While it may be a difficult subject to address, it becomes imperative that we establish policies and procedures to protect our children. Not to do so would be a failure to be good stewards of the people, especially the children, the mission, and the ministries that God has granted us.

This document defines our church’s policy to protect our children from potential and actual sexual abuse situations. While much of this information focuses on procedures and legal obligations, our primary objective is to provide a safe and protected environment for our children.

Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:13-14

“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”
Matthew 18:10

Policy Statement
This policy of First Baptist Community Church of Los Gatos regarding the prevention of child sexual abuse applies to all people affiliated with the church who are involved in any ministry or official activity of the church that involves children. There will be no exceptions.

Mission Statement
This policy exists so that the First Baptist Community Church of Los Gatos may provide a safe, spiritual environment free from child sexual abuse for every child attending any church activity or program.

Objectives
The objectives of this policy are:

• To protect our children by providing an environment free from child sexual abuse for each child that attends the church’s activities and programs.
• To take each child sexual abuse complaint seriously, and act promptly on all suspected cases of child sexual abuse.
• To provide parents or guardians an environment in which they feel comfortable allowing their children to participate in the church’s programs or activities.
• To protect our church from the devastating effects of occurrences of child sexual abuse which include:
  • Victimization of children
  • Damage to families
  • A spiritual crisis within the church
  • Lawsuits against the church
  • Financial loss to the church
• To protect our people from the possibility of false accusations.
• To provide the church, its employees, and volunteers the necessary and effective tools, policy, and regulations to implement the church’s mission and objectives.