About this Publication

Ministries throughout the country increasingly face the uncomfortable situation of individuals with publicly known criminal records involving sexual offenses wanting to participate in church worship and other ministry activities. Often, this places the church’s desire to welcome those in need in tension with creating a safe environment for others involved in ministry activities.

While excluding sex offenders from ministry activities and property would be a simple solution, many churches and ministries look on this as an unsatisfactory response. Including sex offenders in ministry activities and protecting others who attend their churches at the same time requires ministry leaders to develop an attendance policy and establish procedures to accomplish these goals.

Generally, sex offender attendance policies:

• Launch a response team for handling allegations and information regarding a sex offender who is currently attending or who wishes to participate in ministry activities.

• Establish a chaperone team to provide security and accountability for sex offenders during ministry activities.

• Create provisions for a participation agreement with individual sex offenders, establishing the conditions of their participation in ministry activities.

This white paper details these elements and the procedures needed to assess the background of individual sex offenders and supervise their behavior while on church property. The appendix includes a sample Sex Offender Attendance Policy and other sample forms that you can refer to as you develop a policy for your organization.