09/27/2025
An important message from a Christian Educator, posted on PCUSA leaders page follows. As you might be able to tell I survived sexual abuse as a child. This kind of warning tapped into a deep well of grief and shame which has never gone away.
I hope it is read with love, grace and seriousness.
“PSA: Please, please, please stop placing children on the chancel steps facing the congregation for the children’s message. The worship leader should sit there with the children facing away from the congregation and cameras. This should be standard practice in the days of recording and live-streaming worship.
It was shared in a clergy group that they found a YouTube account that was collecting and sharing children’s message videos from churches as a resource. However, every single one of these videos includes a young child unintentionally exposing herself to the camera because she is sitting on the chancel steps in a dress. The videos have received exceptionally high numbers of views in a matter of weeks. I will not be sharing the channel here but it has been reported.
The internet is forever. Our worship livestreams are out there for everyone to see, and sadly there are people who seek out this content for nefarious reasons. A simple rethinking of who sits where is all it takes to better protect the children in your church.”
