Child Protection Policies for Churches
Pathways Counseling helps churches in the Middle East and in English-speaking developed countries write a child protection policy tailored to their own congregation, covering both abuse prevention and abuse response. Dr. Jeremy Van Dyken, EdD, director of Pathways Counseling, prepares your church's first draft free of charge. Further revisions and the final policy carry a modest fee by arrangement, which we can reduce or waive for churches with limited resources.
Why we do this
Dr. Van Dyken's commitment to child protection began in the Middle East. There he helped develop church policies for both preventing abuse and responding to it, in a setting far more sensitive and complicated than most churches in developed countries face. That work drew on five years of behind-the-scenes consultation with embassies, lawyers, women's organizations, psychologists, clergy, and others close to local law enforcement.
The goal today is the same: to help churches and Christian families both prevent abuse and respond well when it happens, so the church can become the safest place on earth from abuse, for women and children in particular. Prevention and response belong together. Where abuse in a church meets a weak response, it is far more likely to continue and to spread.
Why a policy written for your church matters
Free templates are easy to find, but a policy only protects children if people follow it. A policy that fits your church's size, building, ministries and culture is far more likely to become how things are actually done. Our goal is a document your volunteers understand and your leaders can implement.
What a policy covers
Every policy is built around your church, and covers both preventing abuse and responding to it. In sensitive settings, the response half often matters most: local child protection services can be limited, families may leave the country mid-process, and leaders need a clear plan before a crisis, not during one.
Prevention
Definitions of abuse grounded in your country's law
Volunteer screening: a written questionnaire, character references and an interview
Check-in and check-out that confirms who collects each child
The two-adult rule, and guidance on physical touch that respects different cultures
Supervision suited to your venue, such as a hotel or shared building
What to do when someone with a known history of abusing children attends
Separate guidelines for youth ministry, including meetings, transport and mentoring
Response
What to do when abuse is witnessed, disclosed by a child, or suggested by other signs
How to listen to a child's disclosure without leading it or shutting it down
A clear threshold for when a concern must be reported, and who decides
Reporting to the right authorities, including when the family or the accused leaves the country
Protecting the due process rights of both the child and the accused
Follow-up: protecting other children, pastoral care for everyone involved, and never allowing concerns about "gossip" to silence anyone
How it works
A conversation. We learn about your church: its size, ministries, setting and any existing policy.
Your first draft, free. Dr. Van Dyken prepares a draft written for your church.
Revisions and the final policy. We refine the draft with you until it fits. This stage carries a fee by arrangement.
Attorney review. Before your church adopts the policy, a local attorney should review it. Laws on screening and reporting differ from country to country, and from state to state.
What shapes our work
Our policies are based on established Christian safeguarding guidance. We draw in particular on On Guard by Deepak Reju and The Child Safeguarding Policy Guide for Churches and Ministries by Basyle (Boz) Tchividjian and Shira M. Berkovits.
What we don't do
Legal advice. A policy we draft is not legal advice, which is why attorney review is required.
Investigations. If you are facing a specific allegation, contact law enforcement and your church's attorney first. For specialist help responding to abuse, we recommend GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment).
Training. We don't provide child protection training. For training, we recommend GRACE.
Questions churches ask
Is the first draft really free? Yes. There's no obligation to continue, and no connection to any other Pathways service.
Which churches do you work with? Churches in the Middle East and in English-speaking developed countries, such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. A policy is only as good as its understanding of local culture and sensitivities, so we work only where Dr. Van Dyken knows those well. Policies are written in English.
What does the final policy cost? Fees are arranged with each church and can be reduced or waived for churches with limited resources.
Can you review a policy we already have? Yes. Reviewing an existing policy follows the same arrangement as revisions.