Youth & Education Volunteer Agreement

We appreciate your willingness to serve the children and youth at Messiah Lutheran Church (MLC) and your commitment to keeping them safe. In our efforts to ensure the safety of all children and youth, we require the following:

  1. Background Screening: If you do not have a background screening on file with MLC or it is more than 3 years old, MLC office staff will initiate a background check. You will receive an email from Trusted Employees.Com with a link to complete the screening online. Only you and MLC's senior pastor will see the results. Please be sure to enter a current email address below to facilitate this process.
  2. Agreement to follow the MLC Standards for Youth Activities: Please read the document shown below and indicate your agreement to follow the standards described.

You can also optionally list any gifts or special skills God has given you that you are willing to share to enhance MLC's ministry to children and youth.

Your Contact Information 


Emergency Contact Information 

Youth Ministries



Confidentiality Notice:  By submitting this form, I acknowledge that my responses will be shared with Messiah Lutheran Church (MLC) Youth & Education ministry leaders and staff responsible for maintaining the online form. Your responses may also be printed out and maintained in a file for use by MLC Youth & Education Ministry leaders.  MLC will safeguard this information and only use it in support of MLC policies and programs.

STANDARDS FOR YOUTH ACTIVITIES

Approved June 2, 2021

I. Purpose
A. This document helps Messiah Lutheran Church create an environment in which all activities involving youth are conducted with the highest Christian and moral standards. The standards set forth in this document will ensure the safety, security and confidence of youth, and the adults that lead them. 
B. We believe that the service of leading, guiding and teaching youth is one of the highest forms of ministry in the Church and require the support of all Messiah Lutheran Church adults to ensure its success. As a result, we must support our volunteers and staff with resources and our trust as they follow the standards set forth for all activities by youth at Messiah Lutheran Church. 
C. The volunteers and staff who have been accepted to lead activities for youth at Messiah Lutheran Church are expected to set strong Christian examples and exhibit desirable traits such as: possess a mature faith in Jesus Christ, be active in worship, support Lutheran theology, have a positive outlook and sense of humor, be respectful of youth and their families, be caring and effective listeners, be committed to youth activities for a predetermined period and to work effectively with the Pastors and lay leaders of the congregation. 
D. We believe that all youth are a gift from God and we have the highest responsibility to nurture and protect them. However, we recognize that there are those that would take advantage of the opportunities available to them to do harm to the youth involved and we are strongly committed to preventing this. We therefore have established, through this document, the guidelines for practices that create an environment, which helps to ensure the safety of our youth. However, if abuse of youth occurs, we are committed to fully cooperate with state and local officials as appropriate.
II. Definitions
A. Youth: defined for purposes of this document as persons less than 18 years of age or attending high school.
B. Volunteers: Lay adults working with youth in Messiah Lutheran Church activities, who are at least 5 years older than the oldest youth.
C. Event Leaders: Adult volunteers who are in charge of specific youth activities. Persons who are appointed to supervise children during activities on the Messiah Lutheran Church campus and are at least eighteen years of age and a minimum of five years older than the eldest child they are supervising are permitted under these Standards. Leaders of activities away from the Messiah Lutheran Church campus are required to be at least 25 years old.
D. Program Director: An adult volunteer or staff person who has responsibility for an on-going youth program such as the Sunday School Superintendent, the Youth Director or Music Director.
E. Youth Volunteers: Messiah Lutheran Church youth who are at least twelve years of age and working with younger people in Messiah Lutheran Church activities. They must be at least five years older than the youth with whom they are working.
F. Staff Persons: Clergy or laypersons that have paid positions at Messiah Lutheran Church.
G. Activities Covered: Everything that is Messiah Lutheran Church sponsored and includes youth. The activity may be on Messiah Lutheran Church campus or any other location.
H. Child Abuse: Defined by the Alabama statutes. Generally it means intentional physical or emotional harm, including but not limited to sexual abuse, to an individual who is less than 18 years of age by an older person.
I. Safe Driver: Licensed and Insured driver, 21 years or older.
III. Standards for Youth Safety
A. Two-Adult Standard: Generally, this will mean that at least two screened adults, or one screened adult and one unscreened adult will be leading activities for youth at Messiah Lutheran Church. No youth event will begin without two adults present.
The two-adult standard is an essential piece of the Youth Activities Standards. It supports safe, secure and supervised youth activities at Messiah Lutheran.
  1. This is the most important standard in this document. It is central to everything else included in this document to ensure the safety of youth as well as adult leaders. The two-adult standard provides an open and secure setting for youth activities. Adults have help in working with youth, the youth have two trusted adults to rely upon, and adequate help and security is on the spot if an emergency occurs such as an accident or severe weather.
  2. It is essential that leaders plan to ensure that two adults are available for all phases of an event or activity. It is also essential that parents and leaders communicate effectively regarding this requirement. Parents are urged to be cognizant of the two-adult standard and not put leaders in difficult situations by inadvertent acts on their part.
  3. A married couple or two members of the same immediate family may lead an event, however, due to the family relationship; a married couple will count as one adult leader. An additional adult will be required to work with them.
  4. It is permissible to have one adult leader for two or more youth when they are in a classroom setting such as Sunday school, that have open doors or closed doors with windows in the doors and other normal classrooms are adjacent and occupied on the same hallway with event leaders available in the vicinity. If only one classroom is occupied, then two adult leaders are required.
  5. A meeting in a private setting between an adult and youth is not appropriate. Whenever a leader needs to speak with or take a youth aside from the group, the door to the room in which the discussion takes place must remain open. If a separate room is not available, the leader must remain within sight, but beyond listening distance of others. Discussion concerning a serious issue may warrant referral to the clergy.
  6. Drop off and pickup of youth: The adult event leader should ensure that two adults are present before drop off time begins. If a second adult is not present, the adult event leader will wait outside in view of the parking lot, requesting a parent/guardian to stay until the other adult arrives. Upon leaving the event the adult leader must ask another adult to stay until the last youth is picked up. Parents are urged to be prompt in pick-up at the end of an event.
  7. Parents/guardians are responsible for knowing how their child will be transported to and from Messiah Lutheran Church’s activities. If a child will be transported by someone other than the child’s family, contact should be made with the adult in charge, preferably in writing. Adult volunteers are always encouraged to contact parents/guardians via telephone before sending a child home if they are concerned with how a child is departing.
B. Appropriate Touching: Appropriate touch begins with consent. Beyond the scope of keeping a young child from hurting themselves or someone else, there is no appropriate touch without consent. We teach this to children by making it a practice to ask before initiating any kind of touch listed in B1, to facilitate warm and supportive relationships built on trust.
  1. Brief hugs, high-fives, handshakes, touches on the arm or upper back are generally appropriate in Messiah Lutheran Church youth activities.
  2. Youth over 4 years old should not be picked up, sat on an adult’s lap or physically restrained, unless the adult deems it necessary to prevent a child from hurting another child, adult, or him/herself.
C. Access to Activities: All activities are open to visits and observation by parents and leaders of Messiah Lutheran Church. Other visitors are also welcome with the concurrence of the event leader.
D. Safety Standards During Trips Away from Messiah Lutheran Church:
  1. Parents or guardians must give written permission for participation in scheduled activities and all trips away from Messiah Lutheran Church. One permission slip per year for regular and recurring events is sufficient. (Attachment 2)
  2. Medical Emergency Authority will be required for all trips away from Messiah Lutheran Church facilities. (Attachment 3)
  3. Automobile safety requires the use of seat belts, and the selection of safe drivers.
  4. Overnight stays require separate sleeping and bathroom accommodations for each gender. In addition, if boys and girls are both on trips away from the church, there will be one male adult and one female adult present on the trip as well.
E. Activity Plans and Follow-up:
  1. Program schedules and requirements will be regularly communicated between staff members.
  2. Trips away from the Messiah Lutheran Church facilities will be communicated to parents well in advance.
IV. Commitment to Adult Leaders and Their Protection
A. Standards provide a framework of safety and security for not only youth, but also adult leaders. Parents are expected to work with adult leaders and support their ministry to children. The clergy, congregation and staff are committed to the support of the adult leaders. In return, leaders are expected to follow the standards in this document and Alabama law.
B. The two-adult standard provides not only mutual support, improved supervision of activities, and appropriate response for emergencies, but also corroboration that standards are being followed.
C. Adult leaders and parents will communicate in a timely manner on any concerns. D. Physical discipline or restraint of youth is not allowed by Messiah Lutheran Church. However, physical guidance or direction of youth (such as being ushered to “line up here”) is appropriate for certain activities or for physical safety.
V. Guidelines for Adults at Activities that Include Youth
A. Adult volunteers will follow the highest standards of behavior toward youth. They should set a Christian example, and treat all children with the highest respect and love.
B. Adults will set a good example in relationships with other adults and show courtesy and decorum in those relationships.
C. Use of tobacco, alcohol or drugs is not appropriate during youth activities and is not tolerated at Messiah Lutheran Church.
D. Offensive language is not permitted.
VI. Guidelines for Youth and Parents
A. While youth are expected to have fun at youth events, they are also expected to follow the directions of the event’s adult leaders to avoid disruption of activities, and to be respectful to adult leaders and other youth.
B. Event leaders will provide event plans and guidelines as appropriate to youth and parents. The guidelines may take the form of a written covenant for specific groups or events at the discretion of the event leaders.
C. Youth and parents are expected to respect and support adult event leaders who are in charge of youth events.
D. Leaders may contact parents if disruptive or inappropriate behavior by an individual youth is causing problems with the event. Repeated occurrences may warrant counseling by the Senior Pastor.
E. The Youth Director may dismiss a youth from an activity if the youth’s actions pose a threat to other youth or adults. Dismissal normally involves having the parents or guardian come and pick up the youth.
VII. Screening, Membership and Training of Adults Leading Youth Activities
A. Screening. All clergy, staff, and adult volunteers working with youth in this congregation are subject to mandatory background checks funded by the church prior to working with youth.
B. Membership. All youth event leaders and volunteers must be members or associate members of Messiah Lutheran Church for at least six (6) months prior to working with youth in this congregation. Exceptions for newly hired Youth Director or Staff will be approved by the Church Council.
C. Training
  1. All clergy, staff, adult volunteers and youth volunteers working with youth in this congregation must be trained in Messiah Lutheran Church Standards for Youth Activities and sign the Youth Program Volunteer application prior to working with youth. A copy of the application is attached, Attachment 4.
  2. Training is conducted periodically at Messiah Lutheran Church to emphasize the standards in this document and other information to aid the staff and volunteers in protecting youth and to work effectively and safely with them. This training consists of initial training and annual re-commitment. Leaders should contact the church office to make arrangements for any training that is necessary.
VIII. Reporting of Adult Behavior Concerns
A. Processes
  1. The Senior Pastor and Council Vice President are the appropriate leaders to receive concerns.
  2. Person reporting a concern must identify themselves to the Pastor and Vice President. Anonymous reports will not be acted upon.
  3. The Senior Pastor and Council Vice President will confer with each other and act quickly.
  4. The individual in question will be notified and interviewed.
  5. Other parties who were present at the event in question may be interviewed.
  6. 6. The Senior Pastor and Council Vice President will determine the appropriate response, such as dismiss the concern or decide together on appropriate action. In doing so, they may confer with the Church Council or any other group or advisor that they deem appropriate. Appropriate action may include Council action in accordance with the constitution.
  7. Everyone who was a party to the event in question will be notified as to the resolution.
  8. Quick responses are necessary to eliminate doubts and uncertainty. Most situations should be resolved in one week.
  9. Responsible Leaders: The Senior Pastor and Council Vice President are the primary clergy and lay leaders of the congregation. Their judgment is trusted. However, these processes will not be delayed as a result of the unavailability of either leader. In that case, they will designate replacements to act on their behalf.
  10. If the Senior Pastor or Council Vice President are the subject of the adult behavior concern, the other will confer with another council person as the second person to receive the concern.
IX. Reporting Abuse of Minors
A. Alabama Law: Alabama state law requires that certain professionals, such as clergy, report suspected child abuse (for children under 18 years of age) to either law enforcement or the Department of Human Resources. Additionally, anyone may report suspected child abuse to either of the two above agencies.
B. Messiah Lutheran Church Leadership Notification: It is not required that Messiah Lutheran Church leadership be notified before reporting suspected child abuse, but it is recommended that the Senior Pastor and/or the Council Vice President be notified as a courtesy. A person concerned about a situation with a minor may wish to speak with the Pastor in a counseling mode. Counseling may provide assurance to move forward when a person feels inadequate in background or knowledge of abuse situations. The Pastor’s experience could be helpful as a counselor, but the pastor may not take the place of proper legal authorities.
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