Dove's Nest Blog
Boundaries: When Emotions Run High
Posted: May 13, 2019One significant element of emotional health is understanding the importance of boundaries, especially in church settings and faith communities. As Dove’s Nest speaker Leah Schulte says, “Emotional and spiritual energies run high in these spaces—so we thirst for physical touch to affirm those feelings.”
Rules for Touch
Posted: May 13, 2019The following is an example of one church's rules for touch. Each church and faith community will need to create their own list that fits their community. This list is used by permission from The Child Safeguarding Policy Guide for Churches and Ministries by Basyle Tchividjian and Shira M. Berkovits. Here is another example of Appropriate Touch Guidelines.
Listen to the Weeping Child
Posted: April 17, 2019April Child Abuse Prevention Month 2019: Parenting for Prevention
Posted: March 19, 2019April is Child Abuse Prevention Month in the United States. Dove's Nest encourages faith communities to take time during April to consider the plight of abused children and find practical methods to end child abuse and neglect in the communities where they live, work, and worship.
Exploring Safe Spaces with Waterford Mennonite Church
Posted: January 22, 2019My Daughter's Circle of Grace at McDonald's
Posted: December 5, 2018By Anna Groff
Last month, I took my two daughters to McDonald’s to play in the play area and get some ice cream. We needed to get out of the house, and it was too dark for the park. While I was in the parking lot getting them out of their car seats, a security guard alerted us that we might want to use the drive-through, as there was a man inside “tweaking out” on meth. I thanked him and said we’d head to another McDonald’s up the road.
Your Support Has Kept Kids Safe for a Decade!
Posted: November 12, 2018Ten-year-old Kylie has been thriving—protected and safe—in her church family ever since her earliest days in the church nursery thanks, in part, to you. Your generous support for Dove’s Nest during our first decade provided training on the very best ways to keep kids safe to Kylie's Sunday school teachers and her whole church. You gave that gift of safety to Kylie’s church and to children in faith communities across North America.
Survivors, You Are Where You Need to Be
Posted: October 28, 2018Appropriate and Inappropriate Physical Boundaries
Posted: October 2, 2018This material about physical boundaries for adults working with children comes from Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church’s 2009 “Safe Church Policies and Guidelines For Children in Childcare.”
Respect, safety, and appropriate boundaries are the guiding principles for physical contact between childcare workers and children. The guidelines below are intended to avoid contact that is or may appear threatening or inappropriate.