Child sex abuse amendments ratified

Changes prompted by Pruitt case represent a 'fundamental shift' in PC(USA) response

Presbyterian News Service  June 14, 2005

by Jerry L. Van Marter

  LOUISVILLE — Eleven constitutional amendments designed to toughen discipline of child sexual abusers in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have been ratified by the denomination’s presbyteries.

     With results in from 156 of the 173 presbyteries, each of the 11 amendments to the PC(USA)’s Rules of Discipline has received at least 120 votes. The number required for ratification was 87.

     The amendments will become part of the PC(USA)’s Book of Order (constitution) on July 3.

     The amendments were prompted by a 2002 report detailing 51 incidents of sexual abuse committed against 22 children and adolescents by PC(USA) mission personnel in the Congo between 1945 and 1985.          [Read more]

by Shane Whisler

Dallas, billboards show a sleeping child with a bold title: Guardians of the City’s Angels. It’s part of a media campaign for a children’s hospital.

The Synod of the Sun hasn’t purchased billboard space, but we are launching a critically important program: For the Safety of Our Children and Youth.  It includes resources to help prevent the abuse of young people entrusted to the care of congregations, presbyteries, camps, conferences and institutions.

You are invited to use resources to train adults and children, write policy statements and screen staff and volunteers who work with young people. Headlines in recent years of sexual abuse in the context of faith communities prompt us to take even more action. Some insurance providers now require background checks for staff and volunteers.

A task force of persons representing presbyteries and institutions worked for 10 months in research and discussions on this mission.  The task force, empowered by the Synod Executive Committee, entered into a contract with IntelliCorp Records, Inc. to provide background checks at a low rate for synod, its 11 presbyteries and institutions.

Each entity (presbytery, congregation, camp, etc.) must formally register with IntelliCorp in order to perform a background check such as a nation-wide criminal records check which is $9.95 for each use. The persons to be screened must give written permission by signing a release form. Security and privacy are paramount. Only the authorized user(s), according to your organization’s policy, may perform and read the online background check.

The synod launched a new website in April to facilitate participation and provide a variety of resources for everyone, independent of registration with IntelliCorp. Printed reference material will be available soon.

For the Safety of Our Children and Youth is a synod program developed as a response to the needs of the Presbyterians we serve and the empowerment of intentions set forth in the Decade of the Child (2001-2011) declared by the 213th General Assembly.