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Pre-register to learn more about preventing child sexual abuse.
Church should be a safe place where people can entrust their families. Let us work toward that end. –John Upton
BGAV is equipping our staff, churches, and volunteers with tools to prevent child sexual abuse in our organization and ministries.
A team of BGAV leaders has undergone training through a nonprofit called Darkness to Light (D2L), whose goal is to empower adults to prevent child sexual abuse. D2L is a nationally recognized resource working directly with Families Forward Virginia (FFV), an organization dedicated to disrupting cycles of child abuse, neglect, and poverty. FFV is expanding training opportunities for adults to prevent child sexual abuse through a grant from the Virginia Department of Health.
Carol Hogue, D2L’s lead instructor, has Baptist roots, so her understanding of church contexts is clear and relevant. “D2L’s Stewards of Children training provides churches with the facts about child sexual abuse and actionable steps on how to put protective boundaries in place to minimize opportunities for abuse,” Hogue explained. She told of one church that has been utilizing the training for 15-plus years: “I was training new facilitators there and was amazed at how deeply embedded the ‘5 Steps to Protecting Children’ were in their thought processes. The culture of protection within that congregation is powerful. What a wonderful way [for their families] to experience God’s love and care.”
“Stewards of Children” is designed for any adult who works with children. The training session itself is video based, takes about 2.5 hours to complete, and includes a workbook with resources for creating a personal protection plan and to begin a discussion around creating a policy for your church or organization. It can be completed either in person or online.
In person training – $200 per training event (facilitator fee)
Online training – $100 per training event (facilitator fee)
Workbook fee – $10 per person.
Please Note: The $10 per person cost for the participant workbook is currently be waived. The book cost is covered by a grant from the Virginia Department of Health so we will not be charging that portion of the fee at this time. It will, likely, be added in the future. and the cost to participants is minimal—covering only materials and facilitator expenses.
If you or anyone in your church wants to complete this training, please click here and complete a brief online form to let us know of your interest. We are preparing multiple ways to get our churches the help they need in a convenient, affordable way, and we will follow up with all who complete this form. Please contact Kristen Curtis at kristen.curtis@bgav.org.