Congregations have tough balancing acts to fulfill their mission to lead sinners to salvation while keeping members - especially children - safe. Churches today must be "wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove," says Lori Jones, church administrator for Christ United Methodist Church in Davenport, Iowa.

The vigilance is prompted by several events and trends: the Catholic priest sex-abuse scandal, widely publicized child abductions and the growth of mega-churches with huge congregations.

"Churches reflect the society at large," says Eric Spacek, senior risk manager for GuideOne Insurance of West Des Moines, Iowa, which insures about 43,000 U.S. churches.

Churchgoers initially might be taken aback by being required to show an ID card to pick up their children, but many appreciate the safety measures.

"Church security is changing," says Chris Gunnare, business manager for a Baptist church in Muscatine, Iowa. "The threat is not just from strangers, but also from split families in legal disputes. Nobody wants to make the paper for (a child abduction). It's not good outreach."

Small, rural churches where congregants know one another are least likely to screen, says Richard Hammar, a Springfield attorney and author specializing in church risk management. He is also legal counsel for the General Council of the Assemblies of God.

"In general, we haven't seen much resistance to our focus on church safety and security once churches are informed of the risks out there and the measures they can put in place to protect their ministry," he says.

Hammar realized the need for child-safety practices in churches after he wrote an article in 1990 about a church that had been sued for alleged molestation. He received 50,000 requests for the article.

Hammar developed "Reducing the Risk," a safety program, in 1992 and launched a "second generation" version last year. There's also a Web site: www.reducingtherisk.com .

Since widespread reports of child abuse by Catholic priests became public, Spacek of GuideOne says church leaders are more sensitive about bad things happening in sacred places.

Every employee and volunteer who regularly works with children has a mandatory background check and must attend a two-hour Safe Environment training program, says Karen Pesak, director of the Office of Religious Education. Boys & Girls Town representatives introduced the program.

The program addresses types of abuse and "grooming tactics" abusers use to prepare a child for future abuse, and people are taught how to report abuse, Pesak says.

Employees and volunteers agree to abide by the diocese's "Standards of Conduct," which prohibits inappropriate touching; sexually suggestive language; being alone or driving alone with a minor; or engaging in activities that involve excessive physical contact.

"Reports of child sexual abuse have caused immense fear, with people guarding themselves all over the place, including church," says R. Dean Wright, a Drake University sociology professor who studies crime.

Nationally, more than 78 percent of congregations conduct background checks on paid employees, compared with 48 percent 10 years ago, said Hammar's colleague, the Rev. James Cobble, executive director of Christian Ministry Resources, an organization that has extensively studied church practices.

In the past 10 years, 70 child-abuse allegations have been filed against U.S. churches of all denominations each week, Cobble's research shows.

Volunteers are more likely than clergy or paid staff to be abusers, Christian Ministry Resources surveys show. Even so, churches lag behind other organizations such as the Boy Scouts and YMCA, with only one in three churches running background checks on volunteers.

As community standards increasingly expect institutions that deal with children to implement safety practices, churches will be expected to do that same, Hammar says.

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