So I was driving home after dropping of Noah after class when I came to the roundabout at 96th Street and Westfield Blvd. Now, this thing has been in place for well over a year now and I’d like to think that people would have learned how to navigate it by now. But no, there have been at least three accidents I know of at the intersection in the past year and at least one of those ended in the death of two people (they crashed into the concrete fountain in the middle).
All I’ve gotta say is that I love roundabouts, it almost makes it worth having Brainard as mayor of Carmel. I’m still trying to figure out how to pull off this stunt (see video below) in my Geo Prizm, but I’m afraid Carmel PD may not like it.
But seriously, if you don’t know how to navigate through a roundabout, you really should learn. Fortunately, the lovely people at Carmel PD have a link to a “roundabout demonstration.” Take notes people, roundabouts are supposed to be a GOOD THING. Sure beats having to wait at a traffic light.
“One of the most common questions we’re asked by churches is how to attract new people. Our research consistently shows that how a church treats children is one of the keys to drawing and retaining new families. Sadly, churches expose themselves to all kinds of potential problems by failing to screen the people who will have contact with and responsibility for the children of strangers during church events,” said David Kinnaman, who directed the study.
Kinnaman (no relation to this blog’s writer) makes a very good point about church security, either pastors are clueless about potential threats or has the “it can never happen here” approach. In today’s society, we cannot take security for granted.
When I began working at Grace as an intern, I was surprised at all the security that goes on for our children’s program. One of the big things that we do is screen volunteers using a service called Mobilize My Ministry (Ministry Mobilizer) which is a part of Protect My Ministry. What Ministry Mobilizer does is it allows us to effectively run background checks on our volunteers and it raises a red flag if anyone shows up with a criminal record. But that’s not all, we re-screen our volunteers after a certain period of time to make sure that they still have a clean record.
But pastors and administrators should not stop there. Remember, just because someone has a clean record does not equal total trust. There are people who may not have “acted out” their criminal desires or the crimes may not have been reported to the police (think about the Catholic Church sex scandal). It is important for us as staff to know our volunteers and keep an eye on them. When working with children, trust is something that needs to be built, not automatically granted upon a clean background check.
The reason why I commented on this article is because I have a heart for law enforcement, hopefully becoming a police chaplain someday. It’s also important for pastors to remember that threats still exist in our congregation and it is important to keep a watchful eye. Let me know what you think, does your church have a good policy regarding the screening of volunteers? It’d be interesting to see how we’re being proactive in protecting our flocks.
As Mister Rogers would say, it is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The picture above is of our new South Auditorium here at Grace Community Church. It’s amazing how much our campus is growing! If you read my last post, you know that I’m not big on change, but I’m interested in seeing what God does.
I had an interesting day yesterday. I saw that my renewal sticker for my license plate had been stolen. That’s right, you heard it right, STOLEN. Looking back, it could’ve been worse because my entire plate could’ve been stolen. But it’s still a hassle. I went to the license branch before they closed and had to fill out a form. Well, it turns out that I had to have an IMPD officer come out and fill out paperwork and then I can come back to the BMV and get a new plate (or sticker). Being a fanboy of the police, I had a good talk with the officer. We’ve started a CrimeWatch in our neighborhood because of increasing crime, so it’s been important for us as a neighborhood to build a good working relationship with the police.
There’s not much going on this weekend for me. If the weather continues to stay beautiful, I may go down to Brown County and do some photography. Brown County is famous for the leaves changing colors every fall (among other things). But it’s just awesome to see a ton of trees change colors, it gives us something to enjoy before the really cold weather comes.
Be thankful, it’s a short post from me today! I’m learning more about blogging and seeing if it’s a good solution for us here at Grace. I just finished a book called “The Blogging Church” by Brian Bailey, I may write a review for it, we shall see. I hope all of you have a great weekend!
So I was driving home after dropping of Noah after class when I came to the roundabout at 96th Street and Westfield Blvd. Now, this thing has been in place for well over a year now and I’d like to think that people would have learned how to navigate it by now. But no, there have been at least three accidents I know of at the intersection in the past year and at least one of those ended in the death of two people (they crashed into the concrete fountain in the middle).
