Arkansas Baptists gathered for an Abuse Prevention + Response Conference on Feb. 10 at First Baptist Church in Fayetteville.
An event of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) made possible through churches giving to the Cooperative Program, the conference focused on the essentials to actively assist and encourage Arkansas Baptist churches to train, screen, protect, report, and care when it comes to abuse prevention and response. The conference is part of ABSC’s ongoing effort to aid churches in continuing to protect minors and those vulnerable from sexual abuse.
Attendees heard words from Emily Smith, ABSC Abuse Prevention + Response consultant; Kurt Hetherington, president of the James Greene & Associates Insurance Agency and member at Friendship Baptist Church in Conway; and Christa Neal, who serves as the program director of the Community and Family Services academic program and the Title IX Coordinator at Ouachita Baptist University and a member at First Baptist Church in Arkadelphia.
The speakers walked attendees through The Essentials curriculum, which was launched last year by the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF) of the Southern Baptist Convention with hope that churches will use it to train volunteers in preventing sexual abuse and responding to those who have experienced it.
The five elements of the curriculum are train, screen, protect, report and care.
“It’s really great curriculum,” Neal said. “What we’re trying to do is capitalize on what is available and out there but then connect with churches and people who really care about doing this right and provide some practical steps. We broke it down and talked through what it looks like to implement the policies, the practices, and how to prepare beforehand then develop the relationships in the community so you can help someone if they have experienced abuse. I see it as the next step toward practical application of these components and strategies.”
During her session at the conference, Smith covered the importance of being proactive instead of reactive when it comes to abuse prevention and encouraged ministry leaders to provide abuse awareness training for all staff, leaders, and volunteers working with minors in their ministries. She also highlighted a quote from the Essentials material produced by ARITF that stated, “the screening process is the first and best line of defense to prevent abuse in our churches.”
“We cannot be 100% risk free in our churches, but there are practices and essentials churches can implement to help minimize their risk when it comes to abuse,” Smith said.
Hetherington highlighted the importance of protecting their ministries through policies and procedures. Churches face several risk factors today in their ministries. He walked attendees through how to manage risk and shared helpful resources to assist in this process like MinistrySafe’s Safety System assessment and Brotherhood Mutual’s legal assist.
Neal finished the training by walking attendees through how to report abuse and resources available to churches when it comes to caring for survivors of abuse. She commented on how you must plan your aftercare before the crisis happens.
Churches across Arkansas can take steps toward abuse prevention and response through completing The Essentials Challenge. The challenge consists of three steps: download The Essentials, train leaders in the church, and implement practices for abuse prevention and response.
Neal reminded folks of the resources available on the ABSC website, such as the state-wide interactive map where churches can click on a county and find resources available near them, including local counselors, pregnancy resource centers, child advocacy centers and more.
The next Abuse Prevention + Response Conference is scheduled on May 1 at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 10 Remington Drive, in Little Rock.
For more information and to register, click here. Resources are available at ABSC.org/APR.