In today’s church where youth ministry is considered essential to the future of our church, every church seems to be engaging in some form of Youth Ministry or another. Often in our haste to develop events, and hire leadership we do not take the time to establish the basics of safe programming. Our haste however, is grossly misguided. The church is vulnerable in many ways to accusations of abuse, and it is our responsibility to do all that we can to protect our youth and our leaders.

The following document will begin by defining abuse and sexual abuse according to the United Church of Canada. It will establish recruitment, screening and hiring procedures, based on the Faithful footsteps document, and then will provide an overview of best practices for basic youth ministry procedures.

Youth Ministry: Examining Risk Management