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	Churches Find Need for Safeguards against Pedophiles By Patrick Mccallister News-Journal January 5, 2009 http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/WestVolusia/wvlHEAD02010309.htm DELAND -- Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." That Bible verse (Matthew 19:14) may help explain why many churches actively seek to build and operate youth ministries. But places where children and teens gather may also draw pedophiles. That possibility, however remote, increasingly leads church officials to require extensive background checks on workers and volunteers and take other steps to keep children safe. "I do think there is an expectation, and rightly so, that church is a place a person can find some level of security and forgiveness," said the Rev. Tim Mann, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, in a telephone interview. "We tend to give people the benefit of the doubt in wanting to extend that grace and understanding toward people. "Having said that, we live in a fallen world where the depravity of man is not excluded from the church." The recent arrest of former youth pastor Joel Price, 36, on two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography highlights the fact that church officials cannot assume children are always safe within their walls. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported Price was a former youth pastor and missionary for New Tribes Mission in Sanford. In an online church publication, Price wrote about teaching Bible classes to high school students in Venezuela, and doing "computer tech work." On Dec. 26, investigators said they found more than 6,000 images and about 250 video clips of children engaged in various sex acts on a computer at Price's Osteen home. "The investigators who made the arrest said he indicated that he said he had an obsession with child pornography and had been trying on his own to stop it, but was unable to," said Gary Davidson, the sheriff's public information officer. "He said he needed counseling; he needed help." There's no evidence Price had sex with, or personally took pornographic photos of, any children at New Tribes. However, it's at least the second time that New Tribes has dealt with pedophilia. In 2006, church employee George Allen Goolde was arrested for sexually molesting foster children at his Orange City home. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2007. Calls to telephone numbers listed for Price and for New Tribes Mission went unanswered. CHECKS HELP, BUT NOT PERFECT Mike Carroll, associate pastor at DeLand's First Assembly of God, said most church officials are aware of the responsibilities to keep children and teens safe. "I haven't run into a minister yet that didn't have some kind of procedure in place," he said in a telephone interview. "Anybody that works with children and youth, (First Assembly does) a background screening on them. We check the sexual offender registry. We have a service that performs that for us." But background checks aren't going to catch every pedophile and ephebophile, according to Bob Van Domelen, director of Broken Yoke Ministries in De Pere, Wis. The former schoolteacher served a five-year sentence for having sex with underage boys in the 1980s. Among other things, his ministry offers services to those seeking to end what he calls "age-inappropriate sexual attractions." Van Domelen said with an emphasis on God's love, forgiveness and transformational power, churches do attract those wishing to be freed of pedophilia. However, he said few feel safe in confessing their sexual attractions. "The individuals who've contacted me, who've never acted out, I've asked them, 'have you come out,' and they'll say no," Van Domelen said in a telephone interview. TOPIC IS TABOO Mann said that in his 16 years as pastor of First Baptist, no one has ever approached him to confess their sexual attraction to children or teens. "The one area that seems to be sort of elusive -- people don't come out and talk about it -- is any sexual addiction," he said. "That is not confessed. "There's so much shame attached to (pedophilia), and people have so much guilt. There has to be a culture of trust. People don't need to feel ostracized if they come out and confess, but helped." Like First Assembly, Mann's church requires applications, background checks and interviews for all children's ministry volunteers. The church also has a policy against any worker or volunteer being alone with children or teens. Additionally, prospective volunteers are encouraged to wait until they've been members of First Baptist for at least a year before volunteering. Mann said no one is allowed to work with children or teens before six months of membership. Mann's church is in the Southern Baptist Convention, Florida Baptist Convention and Halifax Baptist Association. Josh Bishop, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, said all three have taken steps to educate church leaders about protecting children by detecting pedophilia. He said the Halifax Baptist Association's director of missions, Dennis Belz, has been aggressive in offering training on the subject. "Under the direction of Dennis Belz, he has given me personal instruction, as well as software and different forms that need to be filled out, and contacts to perform background checks," Bishop said. Bishop took the helm at Calvary about a year ago. Before that, he worked at Riverbend Community Church in Ormond Beach. He said that church also was aggressive about ensuring children's safety and implemented many of the same policies practiced at First Assembly and First Baptist. "I was a worker in the kids' wing, and they ran a background check on me, everybody who worked with children," Bishop said. Van Domelen agrees that more denominations, ministries and churches are becoming aware of the need to protect children. He added it's not difficult, if ministers are willing to consider and talk about the seemingly unthinkable. "There's a ton of stuff churches can do," offered Van Domelen. "I think the most important thing they should do is have 'what if' sessions."
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