Mennonite Church USA’s Safe Church ministry is strengthening its commitment to ensuring safe spaces for all members by offering background checks for church employees and volunteers through an agreement with Safe Hiring Solutions.
“Background checks are important and necessary to protect our faith communities, especially children, youth and vulnerable adults,” said Nancy Kauffmann, interim director of Church Safety at MC USA. “They allow the church community to move forward with more confidence, confirming that their employees and volunteers do not have any previous sexual or criminal convictions,” she explained.
The new comprehensive background check package from MC USA’s Safe Church ministry offers three key benefits for congregations: thoroughness, a trusted screening provider and a layer of confidentiality for the employee/volunteer.
MC USA’s Safe Church screening package includes checks at the county, state and federal level, specifically:
- Social Security number verification
- National Sex Offender Registry
- National Criminal Database
- Arrest Alert Pre-Search
- County Criminal Search (looking back seven years)
- Federal Criminal Courts (regional database searches)
“Not all services or packages provide the same level of protection,” Kauffmann said, explaining that less expensive options may only cover federal or state searches. “We strongly recommend that all background checks include county-level searches for maximum protection,” she added.
Kauffmann said MC USA evaluated several other leading screening firms before selecting Safe Hiring Solutions. “We were impressed with Safe Hiring Solutions’ in-depth screening process and extensive experience providing background checks to more than 5,000 churches, schools and volunteer organizations across the U.S.,” she said.
If a Safe Church background check reveals something problematic, MC USA staff notifies the congregation of any red flags and, upon request, will share the full report with the candidate. This also provides more confidentiality for the applicant than if the church contracts with a vendor directly.
The cost for a Safe Church background check ranges from $28-$74 per inquiry. Everence offers a Safe Church Grant that can help eligible churches cover or defray these expenses.
According to Kauffmann, implementation of background checks aligns with MC USA’s ongoing commitment to promoting a culture of transparency, accountability and inclusivity within its congregations. All credentialed leaders in MC USA undergo background checks as part of its Ministerial Leadership Inquiry process.
For more information about Mennonite Church USA’s Safe Church ministry and its background check services, visit mennoniteusa.org/background-checks.
Have a comment on this story? Write to the editors. Include your full name, city and state. Selected comments will be edited for publication in print or online.