The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane
Bishop of Washington

August 2004

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Many of you may recall that in the fall of 2002 we suspended the educational program on prevention of sexual misconduct that had been in place for a number of years. Our objective was to develop a new program that would reflect continuing learning and experience—and to develop a training regime that would be as convenient as possible. A dedicated group of interested members of the Diocese has worked over the intervening time and has developed such a program together with a compilation of Standards for Youth and Children's Ministries in our congregations.

The premise of these Standards is simple: We actively seek to protect our children and youth from sexual misconduct. The three central elements of our program include (i) procedures for appropriately screening persons who are to be involved in the leadership of children and youth programs (ii) clear standards regarding the behavior of leaders of child and youth programs and (iii) effective training that assures that individuals who are lead and teach are children and youth are understand these standards, are equipped to recognize signs that sexual misconduct has occurred and are familiar with the steps that should be taken where misconduct is suspected.

We thank God for the great dedication and the enormous commitment of time that so many individuals in our congregations devote to child and youth ministries in the Diocese—and therefore recognize the importance of making good use of your time. The program we are launching requires only approximately three hours of time. We have established an initial cycle of six training sessions that will be held in all areas of the Diocese over the coming program year. Some programs will be offered on weekday evenings and some on Saturdays. Initially, we have a corps of more than ten trainers and hope to substantially increase that number so that congregations desiring to have a training team conduct one or more training sessions on site may readily arrange to do so. Detailed information on training opportunities is enclosed with this letter.

We ask that all leaders of child and youth programs, all Christian Education teachers and all clergy participate in our new training program concerning the prevention of sexual misconduct involving children and youth. Of necessity, practical considerations require some flexibility here. However, absent compelling circumstances making it impossible, I expect that all persons within one of these categories will participate in the training program by June 1, 2005 .

I enclose a brief document entitled Standards for Youth & Children's Ministries: In Our Congregations. We have developed this document in response to many requests for a clear statement of appropriate norms for congregational programs. We have in progress a similar compilation of standards that will be applicable to Diocesan activities and expect to disseminate this document in the near future. Also under development is a comprehensive statement of Policies for the Protection of Children and Youth from Sexual Misconduct.

I want to emphasize that our efforts to protect our children and youth necessarily will always be something of a “work in process.” This is true both in the sense that our understanding of the evil of sexual misconduct broadens over time and in the sense that we hope to continuously improve the content as well as the convenience of our training. Thus, I invite clergy and lay leaders who have comments or concerns with any aspect of Diocesan policy or program in this area to make your comments or concerns known to us. And of course, we welcome the involvement of individuals who have interest in assisting in our Diocesan efforts to protect our children and youth.

In Christ’s Peace, Love, and Power,

John Bryson Chane, D.D.
Bishop of Washington and Dean of the Cathedral