Why Monitoring, Screening, and Limiting Images of Minors in Worship Is a Necessary Part of Abuse Prevention
(This article was inspired by Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi’s October 13, 2025, letter to the United Methodists of the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey Annual Conferences. See the https://mailchi.mp/gnjumc/urgent-message-regarding-live-streaming-childrens-sermonsUrgent Message Regarding Live Streaming Children’s Sermons.)
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” —Matthew 10:16, ESV.
As followers of Christ, we are entrusted with a sacred responsibility to care for the children, youth, and vulnerable people in our communities. The words of Jesus remind us that discipleship requires innocence and wisdom, compassion, and caution, especially concerning the safety of the most vulnerable among us.
A Disturbing Reality: Digital Spaces Are Not Neutral
Church leaders recently received deeply troubling information: individuals with harmful intentions have taken images of children from publicly broadcast worship services—especially from video feeds showing children gathered for children’s moments—and have manipulated those images for abusive purposes. This reality is heartbreaking. After all the work we have done to make our churches safe, it is devastating to learn that the images of children worshiping God have been misused.
In cases where such activity was reported, all required notifications, reporting procedures, and legal steps were followed. But the warning is clear: digital spaces create new avenues of risk that the church must address with seriousness and urgency.
For decades, the United Methodist Church has committed itself to the work of Safer Sanctuaries—training, screening, policies, and practices that prevent abuse and protect children in our physical spaces. Now, we must apply that same care and vigilance to our digital ministries.
Why Online Images Require New Protective Measures
While sharing worship experiences online helps us reach new people and connect with homebound members, it also exposes children’s faces, voices, names, and physical locations to the wider world.
Unlike in-person ministry, where we can see who is present, a livestreamed image is accessible to anyone—known or unknown, safe, or harmful.
Children cannot consent to this exposure, and predators exploit these vulnerabilities.
Safer Sanctuaries emphasizes that abuse prevention involves recognizing risk, applying common-sense safeguards, and protecting the identity and dignity of children ad the most vulnerable. The digital environment requires us to extend these long-standing practices into a new arena.
Guidance for Worship and Livestream Setting
To safeguard children effectively, churches are strongly encouraged to implement the following practices immediately:
1. Do not broadcast close-up videos of children during worship.
- For children’s messages, focus the camera on the adult leader only, not on the children gathered at the altar.
- If children move across the worship space during a service, switch cameras or use wide, non-identifying shots.
- Using a background image during a children’s message, allowing the adult speaking voice to be heard, but no other voices, can help protect minors’ rights.
2. If children appear in worship in any identifiable way, documented guardian permission is required.
- Written consent forms.
- Signed media release agreements.
- Guardian email granting permission.
No child’s recognizable image should be broadcast without this documentation. These permissions should be collected in advance and kept on file. However, this policy becomes problematic if the church broadcasts children’s messages with first-time attenders participating who will not have ample time to sign the proper documentation.
3. Communicate clearly with families.
Explain that these precautions are taken not from fear, but from responsibility, respect, and love. Take a holistic approach by teaching and equipping the entire congregation about the importance of a Safer Sanctuaries approach to ministry.
4. Train all worship leaders, tech teams, and volunteers.
Everyone involved in worship production should understand:
- The risks associated with livestreaming videos involving minors.
- The congregation’s media policy.
- Ways to avoid filming minors whose parents or guardians have not given consent.
- Methods of reporting concerns or violations.
Include digital safety in Safer Sanctuaries annual training for church staff and volunteers.
5. Review camera angles and livestream habits.
Regularly revisit your setup:
- Is the camera pointed toward pews where children typically sit?
- Does the children’s choir stand where the children are fully visible?
- Pay careful attention to your livestream habits regarding children, especially during special programs such as Christmas pageants, plays, or children’s choirs. Do those camera angles secure anonymity?
- Are there lingering shots of families?
Safer Sanctuaries teaches us to anticipate risk, not react to it. Be proactive in your approach and response.
Screening and Monitoring: Applying Safer Sanctuaries Online
Screening
- Vet and train everyone who manages cameras, social media, and livestreams.
- Ensure digital ministry teams understand confidentiality, consent, and boundaries.
Monitoring
- Assign two trained adults to supervise all livestream and media operations.
- Regularly review recorded services for policy compliance.
- Establish clear reporting pathways for any concern.
Responding
- If inappropriate use of images is reported, follow immediate reporting protocols.
- Notify guardians, district leadership, and appropriate authorities as required. Transparency is essential.
Digital safety is now a core part of abuse-prevention ministry.
Our Sacred Responsibility
Children are a precious gift from God. Safeguarding them, both in physical spaces and digital spaces, is holy work. Every policy we adopt, every training we implement, every permission we honor is part of our calling to create communities of trust, compassion, and accountability.
As we navigate this new challenge, may we hold fast to the heart of Safer Sanctuaries:
We protect children not out of fear, but out of love.
We create safe spaces not from obligation, but from discipleship.
We set boundaries not to limit ministry, but to ensure its flourishing.
May our wisdom be as serpents, our innocence as doves, and our vigilance shaped by Christ’s deep love for every child.
Verses marked ESV are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
This content was originally published by Discipleship Ministries; republished with permission by ResourceUMC on October 12, 2026. To learn more about Discipleship Ministries visit Discipleship Ministries | ResourceUMC.