What are churches doing to stop predators in the church?

[Judas Maccabeus]

So how do you all have ministers? By your logic, you cannot.

You do realise I’m speaking my own opinions, am not ordained, and am not speaking official policy on behalf of my church, right?

Than if your church knew of your opinion, would you still be a member?

[JohnH]

So how do you all have ministers? By your logic, you cannot.

You do realise I’m speaking my own opinions, am not ordained, and am not speaking official policy on behalf of my church, right?

Than if your church knew of your opinion, would you still be a member?

Sure. People are allowed to have opinions.

[joshuabgood]

The glass windowed doors, policing of childrens movements, and locked doors give the feeling of a low-trust society unable to keep basic social norms and coherence without force.

I think of these things as helping to establish a high-accountability, high-transparency environment. It inspires greater trust.

Exactly. Places like that make me feel safe to bring my children. Communities that resist this, make me feel uneasy on the inside.

[JohnH]

The glass windowed doors, policing of childrens movements, and locked doors give the feeling of a low-trust society unable to keep basic social norms and coherence without force.

I think of these things as helping to establish a high-accountability, high-transparency environment. It inspires greater trust.

Exactly. Places like that make me feel safe to bring my children. Communities that resist this, make me feel uneasy on the inside.

I guess you would exclude the majority of plain churches, although the majority of plain churches don’t have classroom doors at all and children stay with parents the entire service. Yet we don’t see anyone claiming the rest of Christendom needs to do that, do we?

I have felt completely safe and comfortable bringing my children to an Old Order service.

[joshuabgood]

I think of these things as helping to establish a high-accountability, high-transparency environment. It inspires greater trust.

Exactly. Places like that make me feel safe to bring my children. Communities that resist this, make me feel uneasy on the inside.

I guess you would exclude the majority of plain churches, although the majority of plain churches don’t have classroom doors at all and children stay with parents the entire service. Yet we don’t see anyone claiming the rest of Christendom needs to do that, do we?

I have felt completely safe and comfortable bringing my children to an Old Order service.

Different people have different thoughts. That's the purpose of the discussion board. As for me, I feel safer where children are supervised, doors have glass on them, there are policies against 1:1 adult to child contact, rooms where "hidden things" could go on are locked, there are accepted policies of reporting what needs to be reported, and community commitment to the safety of all children.

[JohnH]

Exactly. Places like that make me feel safe to bring my children. Communities that resist this, make me feel uneasy on the inside.

I guess you would exclude the majority of plain churches, although the majority of plain churches don’t have classroom doors at all and children stay with parents the entire service. Yet we don’t see anyone claiming the rest of Christendom needs to do that, do we?

I have felt completely safe and comfortable bringing my children to an Old Order service.

Different people have different thoughts. That's the purpose of the discussion board. As for me, I feel safer where children are supervised, doors have glass on them, there are policies against 1:1 adult to child contact, rooms where "hidden things" could go on are locked, there are accepted policies of reporting what needs to be reported, and community commitment to the safety of all children.

Okay. Do you acknowledge the majority of plain churches don’t have rooms and the only doors are the main ones?

Nearly all csa in OO circles occurs in the home and the most common mode is ssa. So perhaps the rest of us could learn from them.

And it remains lower than comparable non-OO populations. So I think barking at plain Anabaptists that they need to put glass in their doors lacks perspective and insight.

[ohio jones]

Okay. Do you acknowledge the majority of plain churches don’t have rooms and the only doors are the main ones?

I have yet to see any church buildings, let alone a majority of plain churches, that have only exterior doors and no others.

Nearly all csa in OO circles occurs in the home and the most common mode is ssa. So perhaps the rest of us could learn from them.

I would hope we don't learn those things from them.

[joshuabgood]

I guess you would exclude the majority of plain churches, although the majority of plain churches don’t have classroom doors at all and children stay with parents the entire service. Yet we don’t see anyone claiming the rest of Christendom needs to do that, do we?

I have felt completely safe and comfortable bringing my children to an Old Order service.

Different people have different thoughts. That's the purpose of the discussion board. As for me, I feel safer where children are supervised, doors have glass on them, there are policies against 1:1 adult to child contact, rooms where "hidden things" could go on are locked, there are accepted policies of reporting what needs to be reported, and community commitment to the safety of all children.

Okay. Do you acknowledge the majority of plain churches don’t have rooms and the only doors are the main ones?

Nearly all csa in OO circles occurs in the home and the most common mode is ssa. So perhaps the rest of us could learn from them.

And it remains lower than comparable non-OO populations. So I think barking at plain Anabaptists that they need to put glass in their doors lacks perspective and insight.

Those are your thoughts. I have mine. (For the record, I am not "barking at plain Anabaptists," I am advocating that everybody everywhere take appropriate precautions and use best practices to keep children safe. Plain or nonPlain...)

[JohnH]

Okay. Do you acknowledge the majority of plain churches don’t have rooms and the only doors are the main ones?

I have yet to see any church buildings, let alone a majority of plain churches, that have only exterior doors and no others.

The last OO service I attended only had exterior doors. Basically one big room. The outhouses by the horse stalls did have a door that had no glass window, but presumably nobody expects that. They were a “one stall” situation (the outhouses, not the horses).

Most OOA meet in a barn or basement. Whilst there might be soon rooms with doors in a barn or basement, they aren’t generally used for church purposes, and perhaps might even be locked, as another poster said he thought is a good idea.

It would be expected for nobody to be going off 1:1 with children other than parents, siblings, or a close relative. I did step outside 1:1 with my son at the last OO service I attended due to him being exceedingly noisy. Other than that, children remain with their parents.

The OO should be being praised for how “safe” their church services are.

Nearly all csa in OO circles occurs in the home and the most common mode is ssa. So perhaps the rest of us could learn from them.

I would hope we don't learn those things from them.

It would behoove us to understand this is by far the most common kind of csa, and also one churches can hardly be expected to police. In any case, the last qualified person I spoke with said it is less common than amongst the OOA’s non-Amish neighbours. So they’re something right.

[Judas Maccabeus]

I guess you would exclude the majority of plain churches, although the majority of plain churches don’t have classroom doors at all and children stay with parents the entire service. Yet we don’t see anyone claiming the rest of Christendom needs to do that, do we?

I have felt completely safe and comfortable bringing my children to an Old Order service.

Different people have different thoughts. That's the purpose of the discussion board. As for me, I feel safer where children are supervised, doors have glass on them, there are policies against 1:1 adult to child contact, rooms where "hidden things" could go on are locked, there are accepted policies of reporting what needs to be reported, and community commitment to the safety of all children.

Okay. Do you acknowledge the majority of plain churches don’t have rooms and the only doors are the main ones?

Nearly all csa in OO circles occurs in the home and the most common mode is ssa. So perhaps the rest of us could learn from them.

And it remains lower than comparable non-OO populations. So I think barking at plain Anabaptists that they need to put glass in their doors lacks perspective and insight.

Know that the Old Order churches he is talking about do not have Sunday School. So his idea will work, if you are willing to eliminate Sunday School.

That issue was decided about 150 years ago.

As to his idea of “the majority “ likely he is inclusive of Old Order Amish.

If this works for you, feel free. For the rest of us, we searched the Bible and came to the conclusion that one can go to Heaven if you farm with a tractor.