Guilty Sentence for Child Endangerment
Recently, Monsignor William Lynn of the Roman Catholic Church was sentenced to a term of up to six years after being convicted of child endangerment. This child abuse conviction represents the first time a U.S. Catholic clergy person has been Read More
Punitive Damages Awarded in Church Child Abuse Case
Punitive damages awarded in church child abuse case – this verdict is indeed stunning! According to news reports, in this June 15th decision, the jury found that the elders in the local congregation followed a denominational policy that prohibited them from sharing information Read More
Property Held In Trust for the Benefit of Episcopal Church
The real property dispute between Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and the oldest church in Georgia ended on May 21, 2012. The real property of Christ Church Savannah is held in trust for the benefit of Episcopal Church. On May 21st a Rule 46 Read More
Meet Author Joy Melton
Safe Sanctuaries: The Church Responds to Abuse and Exploitation of Older Adults, by Joy T. Melton, will be published by Discipleship Resources, in September 2012. This new volume focuses on a broad spectrum of issues related to protecting older adults from Read More Wrongful Termination Litigation Following Hosanna Tabor
The U.S. Supreme Court announced an opinion on January 11, 2012, in the case of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC, et al. The question presented was whether the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment Read More
Georgia’s New Child Abuse Reporting Law
Georgia has a new Child Abuse Reporting Statute and it takes effect July 1, 2012. Every church needs to know what our new law includes and how it effects our ministries with children and youth. The new law is found Read More
Church Risk Management Consultations for Your Group
Joy T. Melton is available for risk management consultations with individual congregations and youth service organizations. In addition to authoring these two texts on church risk management published by Discipleship Resources - Safe Sanctuaries: Reducing the Risk of Abuse of Read More
Building Safe Sanctuaries for Youth
In the Gospel of Luke there is recorded the story of Jesus and his family going to worship in Jerusalem for Passover. Luke 2:42 says, “And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.” Read More
USE OF INFORMED CONSENT AND WAIVERS
Summer has arrived and we all know what that means. It is mission trip season! Many, many youth and adult groups will participate in local, national, and international mission trips this summer. The youth groups at my local church participate Read More
Fifteen-Passenger Van Safety
Does your church own a 15-passenger van? Does the church use it to transport children, youth, and adults for retreats, mission trips, choir tours or other programs? Many of you will answer YES to these questions. If you do, then Read More
