Children’s Safety: What’s Being Done?
I wanted to capture the events of the last two weeks as a snapshot. I have to say - I’ve seen a lot of different scandals erupt on Twitter and politically and elsewhere, and have never seen anything like what we’re seeing.
UPDATE (7/18/22): New information about the details of the incident that prompted all of this is here: Children’s Safety: New Information — Not Overcome
UPDATE (7/21/22): Rock River Church has not corroborated the claims shared on 7/18. That claim by a pastor in the network remains unsubstantiated. Read More: Children’s Safety: No Confirmation from Rock River Church — Not Overcome
The Timeline
Friday, June 17th
I published the blog post: “Are Children At Risk?” I emailed leaders that afternoon (The email is available in the blog post).
Rock River Church, San Marcos, Texas - Lead Pastor Alex Dieckmann
Christland Church, College Station, Texas - Lead Pastor Sándor Paull (Dieckmann’s Area Coach)
Joshua Church, Austin, Texas - Lead Pastor Steve Morgan (Network President)
The post detailed how, in 2019, Alex Dieckmann had relayed a story that strongly implied (though there is some room for doubt) that a woman who had molested a child was and still may be working with kids in the Kids Program, and that he had failed to report this to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services as required by Texas law.
Tuesday, June 21st
I published a blog post detailing the childcare policies I’d received from across the Network, which do not include any instructions on reporting abuse (either observed in the program or believed to be occurring outside of it). The policies also fail to ensure that two unrelated childcare workers are always present and they also fail to adequately describe what appropriate and inappropriate physical contact are.
Thursday, June 23rd
6 days, and a full church work week after having published the original blog post (having received no response), I emailed it to all of the kids directors (or a general email) within the Network. You can read that letter here.
I also published a set of Non-Network childcare policies.
Saturday, June 25th
Vida Springs posts on Instagram:
Our Vida kids program is a safe, loving, fun-filled environment for children ages 0 - 5th grade. We would love to see you and your family at our 10:30am service on Sunday!
The post is now “liked” by “@unseenworship”, which is Chris Miller, who leads Worship across The Network, and had previously responded to a Google review of Joshua Church (he said he handles that for Joshua Church). Given that, it’s possible he is the recipient at the “info” email address for Joshua Church which received the emails on both Friday, June 17th and June 23rd.
I responded with:
Hi @vidaspringschurch: I emailed your Kids Director on Thursday to ask about the safety of the kids program - any chance you are able to share your latest policies on how you keep children safe? Here is the letter I tried to send which references potential issues with the policies in your church Network (which I used to be a part of), not sure if she saw it, as I did not hear anything back yet (the letter links to additional information prompting these concerns, including copies of some policies being used in your Network). Feel free to reach out with any questions! https://www.notovercome.org/blog/letter-to-network-kids-directors
Vida Springs initially responded to me with:
Thank you for your concerns and for reaching out to our kids director. That is the best means to get in touch with us. Stay tuned!
Leaving The Network (LTN) commented in response to Vida, saying:
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
Network Churches claim that their children’s programs are “safe” and “loving” but have not responded to questions about their policies.It is vital they respond.The public should understand Network policies on mandated reporting for sexual abuse given the leaked audio when has been released regarding @rockriverchurch.
For clarity, the interaction at that point was:
Vida Springs Post
My comment (this may have gone up on Sunday, I forget)
Vida Springs Response
LTN response to Vida Springs and me
Sunday, June 26th
On Sunday, June 26th, Vida Springs deleted my comment and the comments under it.
LTN commented again, and the fake @leavingthenetwork account also chimed in.
Those comments were subsequently deleted as well, and as of now the original post is up without any comments.
Blocked by Vista (yes, Vista, not Vida Springs)
On Instagram, Vista Church in San Luis Obispo, California, blocked my wife and I later on Sunday (Vista Church is our former church). This could have been in response to them receiving my letter to the Kids Director (who we used to consider a friend), or it could have been because they saw me comment on Vida Springs - it’s impossible to say. We remain blocked as of today.
I can’t say whether or not any other church in the Network has blocked me, but I’ve checked a few of them and have not been blocked. Even Vida Springs has yet to block me.
Thursday, June 30th
I’m posting this, because I have heard literally nothing from a single person in The Network, other than the above comment promising a response from Vida Springs.
Not one Kids Director has reached out publicly, privately, or even anonymously. There’s been zero engagement of any kind.
As It Stands
The Network has not responded in any real way in nearly two weeks since first receiving letters informing them of the issue at Rock River Church, and a week since being informed of their insufficient childcare policies. I can only say that a church that fails to act quickly and transparently when informed of issues affecting kids safety is not one that I would place my own children in.
This continues to be a developing situation, and if you have any information from within The Network, you can send it to me at not.overcome@outlook.com or DM me on the r/leavingthenetwork subreddit where I am u/jeff_not_overcome.