Application Guidelines

The Church of the Resurrection, in its Policy for the Protection of Minors and Developmentally Disabled Adults, vows to take seriously the importance of providing a safe environment where all people can participate freely and safely in the life of the church and intend to maintain a sanctuary or “safe place” for all to grow in faith and maturity. If you wish to volunteer in KIDSCOR, Rezlife, Matthew’s Ministry, Youth Music, Partner Schools, International or Domestic Missions, you are required to become certified by the Safe Gathering Program to serve in that ministry.

Before You Start

You will be asked for 2 references. These are people that have known you for a minimum of 2 years. You may NOT use a relative as a reference. For optimal success, it is recommended that you contact these people ahead of time and carefully note their email and phone number with area code. The Safe Gatherings automated system will use the contact information that you provide to instantly contact the Reference via email, so accuracy is essential. Your Clergy Reference must come from the reference progression that follows:

• Resurrection Pastor who knows/worked with you
• Pastor of a different church with whom you have worked
• Resurrection Staff/Lay Leader with whom you have worked
• Staff of a different church with whom you have worked
• Employer or Supervisor
• Coach or School Counselor

Your Secondary Reference or Lay Reference can be a neighbor, friend, co-worker, etc., but not a relative. This reference must be 18 years or older.

Getting Ready to Apply

The Safe Gatherings application and tutorial training are to be completed using the online system. The application and tutorial training take about 1.5 hours to complete from start to finish. To access the Safe Gatherings website, go to safegatherings.com.

Screen 1

Click on Get Started (upper right-hand corner of the page).

Screen 2

You are applying for Safe Gatherings Certification for the Church of the Resurrection, in Leawood, Kansas. Even if you attend a different Resurrection location, use Leawood as the city and Kansas as the state.

When you see the prompt: “Select the state/province for your organization…” select Kansas.

An additional prompt will appear that requires the name of your organization. Type: Leawood: Church of the Resurrection, Leawood.

Use your legal name on all documents during the application process. Male Applicants, select None at the end of the Maiden Name box.

Applicant type: Lay Person

You will create a Username and Password. Keep both of these until you have received notification of your Safe Gatherings Certification. You can use your email address as the Username. The username and password will allow you to complete the application process in more than one sitting. You can use them to log on to the site and check the status of your application’s process.

Screen 3

No explanation needed.

Screen 4

• Social Security Number: This is a required field. The number must be entered accurately. Your application will not be processed if it is not accurate.
• Occupation: Enter: student, actual occupation, retired, or none.
• State: Kansas
• City: Leawood
• Church: Church of the Resurrection UMC
• Primary Area of Ministry: Enter your appropriate ministry area (for example, Education & Life Skills, Matthew's Ministry, etc.)
• Previous Church work: Examples: nursery, Matthew’s Ministry, KiDSCOR, etc. This is a required field, so you can type None.

If you have lived outside of the state of Kansas at any point over the last 7 years, provide the address, city, state, and zip code for each residence during that time frame.

If you have attended a church other than Church of the Resurrection in the last 5 years, provide: the name of the church; the county; the zip code.

Missouri-side Resurrection Members: Although you attend church at a location that is not in Kansas, this does not apply to you, unless you have attended Church of the Resurrection for less than 5 years.

Screen 5

No explanation needed.

Screen 6

Use the information that you received from your References to complete these pages.

Enter the email address and phone number carefully and accurately. Providing The Safe Gatherings automated system with accurate information is your responsibility. A misplaced dot, reversed or omitted letter/s, will result in your Reference not receiving the Request for information. Your application will not proceed further until you correct errors.

If you use a Clergy Reference that is not an actual Resurrection minister, you will be asked to explain why you didn’t. For example, “I have not had the opportunity to work on a project with a Resurrection minister. I have not had a serious issue that I needed to consult with a Resurrection minister about.”

When you click Save, the Reference Request will be sent automatically to the email address that you entered.

Screen 7

The church pays all fees for the application. Click Continue. The Application Status Page will appear.

To access the Release of Information Form, select Click Here in the first paragraph, second line, above the Application Status Form. Print this form and sign it on the signature line next to where your name is printed, providing your current address.

Also check the Social Security number on the Release of Information Form. The Social Security # must be accurate and match the Social Security# that you entered during the application process or the background check will not be initiated and the application will not proceed.

Send the Release of Information Form via US Mail to:

Safe Gatherings
9200 Glenwood
Overland Park, KS 66212
Suite 102

Or print the form and scan to:

FAX Number: (913) 273-1984

If you do not have a printer, notify the Safe Gatherings Team at (888) 241-8258. Arrangements will be made for you to receive the Release of Information Form through an alternative method.

Applicants have access to this phone number for assistance with questions at any time. Office hours are: 9 am - 5 pm.

Application Status Page

After submitting your application and Release of Information Form, contact your Rreferences to verify that the request form has been received. If they haven't, verify that their email address is correct.

To verify reference contact information:

Use your Username and Password to access the Application Status page. Click on View/Change Reference, correct errors and save. The automated system will resend the request using the new email address.

This method can also be used to change to a different reference. Additionally, alert your reference that sometimes notifications from Safe Gatherings go to spam folders. (This can also happen with correspondence to you from Safe Gatherings.)

Other Reference

If the “Clergy Reference” that you used, does not have "Reverend" as their title, you will see "Other Reference" in the Application Status box. A designated pastor at Church of the Resurrection will become your proxy clergy.

You do not have to do anything to obtain approval from the proxy Clergy. This part of the process will be handled by Safe Gatherings and the designated clergy.

Checking Your Status

You can check the progress of the certification process at any time. Use your Username and Password to access the Application Status page. As things are completed, you will see a check mark in the circle next to it.

The certification process can take up to 3 weeks. Certification is valid for 4 years. At the end of that time, you will need to reapply in order to continue serving in a ministry that involves a vulnerable population.

Tutorial Training

You are now ready to complete the tutorial training portion of Safe Gatherings. Under the Application Status Box, you will see a bar that reads: "Click here for Training." There are 10 modules. You can complete all 10 modules in one sitting, or you can log out and complete it in several sittings. When you click on the “training” bar under the Application Status Page, the program will automatically take you back to where you left off.

When you have completed the session, click Submit.

You should have your certification in about 3 weeks. You will be notified via email when your application has been approved. This email will have a certification expiration date. Keep a copy of this email for your records and forward a copy to your ministry leader.