Safe Gatherings

About

The Western North Dakota Synod is committed to ensuring that we provide safe places of worship and fellowship to everyone we serve. 

Safe Gatherings is an online abuse prevention program that screens and trains staff and volunteers to help prevent abuse of children, youth, and vulnerable adults in group settings. When employees and volunteers are trained to identify potential abusers, recognize the signs of abuse, and how to handle reporting, they are better equipped to prevent abuse.

When using Safe Gatherings, upon successful completion of the application, background check, reference checks, and the online training program, each applicant will receive documentation of approval valid for three years and will have continued access to the online training program for an entire year.

The price per applicant for the program customized for Western North Dakota Synod churches is $45. That includes processing of two electronic references, a national and multi-county of residence 7-year background check (all available US addresses for the past 7 years), Sex Offender Registry check, and the 1 hour online abuse prevention and boundary awareness training. Churches may contact Safe Gatherings directly if they choose to offer only the current county of residence background check (available only for volunteers). The Safe Gatherings fee for this lower level background check is $37.

Details

Contact the Safe Gatherings team at contact@SafeGatherings.com or call 888-241-8258 to provide the contact information for your church or group. Churches in the Western North Dakota Synod are already set up within the Safe Gatherings system, and your applicants will be able to follow the links below to begin their Safe Gatherings approval.

Click here to start the Safe Gatherings process – https://safegatherings.com/app/get-started
Click here to log in to your Safe Gatherings application after you have completed your registration– https://safegatherings.com/app/login

When your Applicants begin the application process, they will need to select:

-Language Preference (English),

-Type of Organization (Church or Faith Based Organization),

-Denomination (Lutheran), and

 -State where your church is located.

Then, in the next field, they will begin typing any part of the organization name, (ex: Trinity), and a list will appear in a drop-down menu from which they will select the organization name where they are seeking approval to serve.

Individuals can login to their account at any time to check the status of their application.

Contact

Contact the Safe Gatherings team at contact@safegatherings.com or (888) 241-8258 for additional information or with questions about the program.