- Hold meetings to discuss the problem of rising crime in the community. Invite speakers from local agencies to address the dilemma, offer solutions and provide resources.
- Pray for the nation’s leaders, as well as the problem of increasing crime.
- Join with other churches to provide safe, parent-monitored playgrounds and programs for children in the community.
- If a child becomes a victim and/or a witness to a crime, rally around the family, helping find and pay for quality professional help for the traumatized child.
- Work with school administrators, teachers, community leaders and parents in the neighborhood to make school systems safer.
- Network with social agencies in the community, asking for guidance and resources to help educate the congregation on keeping children safe.
- Offer a supervised after-school program in the church for children with working parents.
- Insist that church leaders, Bible teachers, children’s workers and staff undergo criminal background searches before hiring.
- Make sure the church is a safe place for children. If needed, install alarm systems, extra parking lot lighting, police and/or security guards for gatherings.
Click here to read how ways to guard kids from the negative effects of violence.