First United Methodist Church of Hershey

Our Church is a Safe Sanctuary for Children and Youth

When Jesus told the masses to let the children come to me, he set the standard for including children and youth in our faith, our worship and our church.

Over the last few years, our church has adopted and implemented a Safe Sanctuary Program that takes large strides to make certain that our children and youth are revered in the way Jesus intended, that coming to church is a happy occasion, and that the tragedies that have befallen children in other places of worship do not happen here. Under our policy, which protects both children and youth and vulnerable adults from abusive situations, we have taken steps to make certain that opportunities for such situations are minimized and that we have effective means in place for reporting and addressing suspected abuse, whether it should happen at church or during a church activity, or elsewhere.

Under our policy, there are heightened screening procedures for new and existing employees, as well as for volunteers who have regular contact with our children and youth. These procedures include criminal background checks, child abuse history clearances and reference checks. Further, our standard practice for activities including children and youth is that two adults are present at all times. Remember, the more volunteers we have serving the church, the easier it is to meet this standard! On those occasions where two adults cannot be present all the time, a second adult will be available and checking in on the group periodically.

If a volunteer or church employee receives a good faith report of abuse of a child or youth, we have reporting processes in place that insure that the information gets reported to the pastors and to the authorities in a prompt manner that maintains the confidentiality of the child or youth and the person accused while an investigation is completed. We are training our employees and volunteers about our Safe Sanctuary Program and trust that the result of our efforts will be an environment that helps our church and its many valued and trusted employees and volunteers to serve children and youth in the manner Christ intended. Children and Youth are welcome at FUMC-Hershey!

If you work with children or youth at FUMC-Hershey, you must meet our Safe Sanctuary Policy guidelines.