Are you planning to conduct a background check as a part of your process of conducting a search for ministry leader?

If you have not considered or were not planning on conducting a background check, you need and will want to include conducting a background check as a part of your search and hiring process. 

Why is it be a good idea and useful to practice conducting background checks on future ministry leaders who will be joining your church or organization?

Even those who don’t regularly follow the news have probably heard in recent years of some instances of tragedies, such as child abuse, sexual misconduct, fraud, etc., that occurred in schools, churches and various organizations. Some of this in church settings and has involved pastors, clergy, youth workers or volunteers. Incidences such as these cause hurt, heartache, emotional, spiritual and physical harm to people, often by the very leaders who were serve, lead, teach, and protect them. Additionally, tragedies such as this may also open some congregations, dioceses, conferences, to legal liability and financial penalty. Having a policy on and practice of conducting background screening ministry leaders (and also volunteers) as a part of the selection process is one step that churches wanting to protect the people involved in and served by their ministries can take.
Another potential benefit of making a practice of conducting background checks on ministry leaders is that it may decrease the insurance premiums of your church or organization. You may want to contact your insurer to see what advice that they may offer to reduce the risks to the ministry of your church or organization and to check into the possibility of a discount or decrease in insurance premiums.
Letting candidates know from the beginning that a background check is a part of the selection process is usually a good idea so that it will not be a surprise for anyone down the road. Doing so may also encourage some candidates who otherwise wouldn’t have shared an important issue in their past to bring it up in the interview process or encourage a candidate to withdraw from the selection process if they have something in their background that they are not willing to address or want to hide from a future employer.

What is typically involved in a background check?

Background checks vary in what they encompass but generally will include checks in a national criminal records database, state sexual offender databases, county records in the counties that an applicant has lived, and an identity verification which can be use to verify information provided in an application or resume. Various background check providers may also provide the option to verify the highest educational degree achieved, check a driver’s record if it is related to the required duties of the position, and additional services.
Background checks may be done post-offer, pre-employment. For instance, an organization might, going through the rest of the hiring process, decide that they would like to extend an offer to a candidate and so extend the offer contingent upon the completion and results of the background check. The candidate will have had the background check completed prior to being employed and starting at the church or organization. Some congregations may do background checks at other points in the selection process per their background check policy.
Background checks are not the miracle answer to stopping or preventing every instance of abuse, fraud, etc.; however they can be one piece, among several, of practicing due diligence and reducing the liability, risk and likelihood of such things from happening in your congregation or organization.
Some may be thinking, this is all well and good, IF we had time to do background checks, but we don’t – we need somebody yesterday.
The fact of the matter is that most background checks do not take a huge amount of time; most background check providers usually provide fairly quick turnaround. At times there can be an instinct to react to a “need” for a ministry leader, whether for a newly created position or in response to a prior ministry leader moving on, that can motivate people to rush through the process and what should be done which can potentially have disastrous results.
Hiring someone to lead the ministries of a church or organization is an important decision requiring prayer, discernment, wisdom and patience, is not a decision to be rushed into. The question to ask regarding background checks should not be “Can we afford the time to conduct a reference check?” but rather “How can we not afford to take the time to conduct a background check?”

So what does it cost?

The cost of conducting a background check varies between different providers of background check services and depends in part on the services or checks that are necessary and/or recommended for the type of position that you are screening for. A through background check is a good investment in protecting the ministry, mission and people part of or served by your church or organization. You may want to check with several providers of background check services in order to compare services provided and costs entailed.

Selecting and hiring a ministry leader is a process that requires a lot of prayer, discernment and wisdom.

It may mean having to have a little bit of patience, even though there may be some pressure to find and hire someone right away. A background check is one piece of the search process, and can be an important piece in protecting the ministry and mission of your church or organization. Please take the time to consider including a background check as a part of your search process.

Resources and Links:

There are a number of good resources available to help you with conducting a background check and setting up a pre-employment background check policy/practice in your church or organization. A good place for many churches to start looking for assistance with policies, etc is their own denomination. A denominational official, such as a district superintendent, may be able to point you to some denomination specific resources or policies. (For instance, the General Council on Finance & Administration of The United Methodist Church has made available the GCFA Legal Manual 2005–2008 which contains a wealth of information that United Methodist congregations could benefit from, including discussions on background checks, avoiding problems in hiring and firing employees, personnel policies, a new employee checklist along with a number of other practical and relevant topics.)
Contacting your church’s or organization’s insurance carrier may also be a good resource of information on background checks and/or policies on background checks. (Your church IS covered under insurance, isn’t it?)
ScreenChurchStaff.com, presented by Christian Ministry Resources, provides the capability to conduct background checks and also has several articles on why churches should screen.
Oxford Document Management Company, a provider of background checks for clergy, church workers and volunteers, additionally offers several helpful articles and resources on the topic of background checks and policies concerning background checks.
VolunteerSelect Plus, is ChoicePoint’s service for providing background screening services to non-profits for employees and volunteers.

Books

Betrayal of Trust: Confronting and Preventing Clergy Sexual Misconduct
by Stanley J. Grenz & Roy D. Bell
Safe Sanctuaries: Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in the Church
by Joy T. Melton
Safe Sanctuaries for Youth: Reducing the Risk of Abuse in Youth Ministries
by Joy T. Melton