Ministry Safe FAQ
If you forgot your password but already have been entered into the system please use the Lost my login information link or call MinistrySafe, 817-737-SAFE (7233).
If you don’t know any login information for your church or you need to get in for the first time please email or call Teri Tobey and she can help get you set up, 206-870-6822.
Included in your January Insurance Letter are the expectations for Background checks and Abuse Awareness Trainings.
To avoid an Insurance Surcharge on your 2025 insurance bill please complete the following requirements no later than November 30, 2024.
Each church needs to:
- Complete background checks on MinistrySafe
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- Average worship attendance
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- Under 75 must complete at least 4 background checks
- Over 75 must complete at least 6 background checks
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- Complete “Sexual Abuse Awareness Trainings” available on MinistrySafe (Unlimited Sexual Abuse Awareness trainings available at no cost, even though the website shows the normal charge, there is a coupon on the account that makes them free.)
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- Average worship attendance
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- Under 75 must complete at least 4 trainings
- Over 75 must complete at least 6 trainings
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- Additionally, each church must background and sexual abuse awareness train those that work with a vulnerable population. The insurance has changed this year and it is a requirement to be afforded defense coverage for any abuse allegations. Only those volunteers who have background checks are covered by the church liability insurance.
All volunteers working with youth, children, and vulnerable adults and all church staff. Please see the Background Check Matrix (LINK).
- Paid Workers – ALL Employees of the local church. This list includes but is not limited to: Pastors, Youth/Children Staff, Family Ministry Staff, Nursery Staff, Music Staff, Parish Nurse, Secretary, Custodian, etc. (Pastors will be checked through District or Conference channels and do not count as one of the church’s required background checks.)
- Volunteers with contact with children, youth, or vulnerable populations. This list includes but is not limited to: Youth/Children Volunteers, Sunday School Teachers, Nursery Volunteers, tutors, Vacation Bible School Volunteers, etc.
- While not required- the church may consider also background checking the following individuals: Anyone who counts money or writes checks i.e. Treasurer/Money Counters, or those with key access to the building.
The MinistrySafe Abuse Awareness Training is an expected requirement for all staff and volunteers working with vulnerable populations. Please see the Background Check Matrix (LINK). Only those volunteers who have background checks and abuse awareness trainings are covered by the church liability insurance.
- Paid Workers – ALL Employees of the local church. This list includes but is not limited to: Pastors, Youth/Children Staff, Family Ministry Staff, Nursery Staff, Music Staff, Parish Nurse, Secretary, Custodian, etc. (Pastors will be checked through District or Conference channels and do not count as one of the church’s required background checks.)
- Volunteers with contact with children, youth, or vulnerable populations. This list includes but is not limited to: Youth/Children Volunteers, Sunday School Teachers, Nursery Volunteers, tutors, Vacation Bible School Volunteers, etc.
The PNW Conference office recommends that churches in our conference order a Level 3 background check the first time someone is being checked with a National background check. If you are renewing a background check you may choose to do a level 1 check.
You can send the invitation to a church email address and invite them to fill out the information at the in the office or use the paper form.
See MinistrySafe.com’s help section on ordering a background check.
After ordering, a background check it is not complete until you return to the program and view the results and then select whether or not to approve the background check, as this is not automatic. See MinistrySafe.com’s help section on reviewing a completed background check.
https://ministrysafe.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023778771-How-to-view-completed-background-checks
MinistrySafe.com’s help page on sending an abuse awareness training.
https://ministrysafe.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4404788151444-How-to-Send-Trainings
Important Note when sending multiple trainings at one time:
The system sends training to users on one page at a time. If you have 3 pages of users, select the users you’d like to send training to on the first page and click Send Training.
If it has been more than 12 months since you last ordered a background check you will get an error message. Please call MinistrySafe, 817-737-SAFE (7233) to fix it.
No, all those appointed by the Bishop to serve a local church including CLM’s, Local Church Pastor’s and Clergy have their background checks managed by the District Service Center.
There is a paper consent form (click here) they can fill out. When processing their background check please click on the “long form” option.
This is the default user admin account set up for all the churches. Teri Tobey is staff at the Conference office and works frequently with MinistrySafe and background checks. This user login allows Teri to log in and help you trouble shoot if you have any troubles. Please do not delete or make this user inactive if you see it on your dashboard.
Please update the contact info and billing preferences for your church. MinistrySafe does require a backup payment method to be on file for any charges beyond the Conference provided credit.
Click on this link for step-by-step instructions on how to update your billing information: https://ministrysafe.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023555572-How-to-Edit-Billing-Information
We DO NOT do any credit checks during a background check for employees or volunteers. Those in the ordination process requiring a credit check will have it done separately from the background check.
There are two things we can do to clarify for the volunteers and staff what kind of checks we are ordering. One would be to send a message from your email account explaining that they can expect the emails from MinistrySafe. Secondly you can explain that Background Checks are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), legislation enacted by the United States Federal Government to protect the accuracy and privacy of consumer information contained in Background Checks.
The disclosure forms pertaining to the FCRA include mandatory language referring to credit reports that cannot be removed or modified. Background Checks will NOT affect ‘Users’ credit scores, nor will financial information be visible on the completed Background Check report.
The place in the MinistrySafe Dashboard for that information would be under the manage user tab, if you click on the name you can update information about the individual, I would recommend putting this information in “notes box” so it is available to your staff.
No, the entire conference already has a membership and each church in our conference has already been set up with a login for a dashboard. Sexual Abuse Awareness trainings for our Conference Churches do not have a fee and there is a coupon loaded onto the account so that the Sexual Abuse Awareness trainings will have no cost.
The cost of each level of background check can be found on the “Order background check” page by clicking on the white button that says “Background Check Levels.”
Ideally you would create a new user on your dashboard with the incoming leader’s name and a church related email address. If you don’t know the new leader’s name you can create a generic user name and connect it to an accessable church email address but please make sure it is clear that the new leader needs to update that generic log in to their name once they log into the system.
If no one at the church knows the log in information for an admin, please email or call Teri Tobey (PNW Conference Staff) and she can help get you set up, 206-870-6822.