• Contact
  • Return to IBSA
  • Advertise Through Us
  • Subscribe
  • E-Reader

IBSA News

Illinois Baptist State Newspaper

  • QuickLinks
    • E-Reader
    • Subscribe
    • Baptist Press
    • Resource Magazine
  • News
    • Corona Virus
    • IBSA
    • SBC
    • Culture
    • Religious Liberty
  • Mission
    • Illinois Churches
    • Church Planting
    • Missions
    • Evangelism
  • In Focus
    • Longform Articles
  • Columns
    • Nate Adams
    • Eric Reed
    • Meredith Flynn
  • Leaders
    • Pat’s Playbook
    • Fresh Ideas
    • iLead
    • Devotional

Illinois Senate Bill raises religious liberty concerns for clergy

March 21, 2017 By Lisa Misner

Illinois Senate chambers

The Senate Chamber of the Illinois State Capitol Building in Springfield.

A bill working its way through the Illinois Senate proposes mandatory training for clergy to recognize signs of child abuse is causing concern among religious liberty advocates.

Senate Bill 912, the Abused Child-Reporter Training Bill, mandates anyone who is a designated reporter of abused  children (teachers, physicians, clergy) as deemed by the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act be required to complete at least four hours of training each year to recognize signs of domestic violence against children and adults.

The bill, introduced by Senator Melinda Bush who represents District 31 located in the north suburbs of Chicago in Lake County, was assigned to the Human Services Committee. It was while in committee that an amendment specifically targeting clergy was added. The amendment stated, “That within one year of initial employment and at least every 5 years thereafter, any member of the clergy required to report child abuse as provided under the Act must complete mandated reporter training by a provider or agency with expertise in recognizing and reporting child abuse and domestic violence.”

Ralph Rivera, a lobbyist for the Illinois Family Institute, told the Illinois Baptist in an e-mail, “I believe this would set a precedent for government to require training of clergy. It is important to know that once a precedent is set, the next government requirement is easier to do. We don’t want to go down this road.”

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the free exercise of religion and freedom of speech. But what would happen if a member of the clergy refused to participate? ”There is likely no penalty for refusing, but this would be detailed in rules proposed by the agency after the bill went into law,” said Rivera.

He also questioned, “The bill doesn’t say how long the training is (4 hours or 2 days?), who will pay for it (agency or clergy or clergy paying some part of it)?”

Defenders of First Amendment rights may ask, at what cost to religious liberty? Rivera offered this solution, “An easier way would have been to just have the bill require the agency [Dept. of Children and Family Service] to make training workshops available over the year and invite clergy to attend if they would like to better learn how to recognize signs of child abuse and domestic violence.”

SB 912 has been placed on the Senate calendar for a second reading on the Senate floor. The General Assembly is back in session March 28.

Share This Story

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Coronavirus

  • News
  • Church Helps

Sexual Abuse Prevention & Ministry

Resources

  • Protect your children, protect your church
  • Caring Well
  • Related Stories

Featured Columns

Melody Westbrook

Is being a pastor’s wife a blessing or a curse?

Melody Westbrook

Hi! I’m Melody Westbrook and I am a recovering Pastor’s Wife. My husband and I recently resigned after 35 years of pastoring two churches. We moved from Oklahoma to Illinois in 1991 to plant a church in Edwardsville. As we departed, my identity as pastor’s wife quickly faded. I was warned about the loss of […]

Meredith Flynn

The whole story

Meredith Flynn

“So, Samson died too?” The question hung in the air as we read a chapter in our new Bible storybook. “Well, yes,” I said, glad for the author’s intro that explained even heroes aren’t perfect. Flawed, foolish Samson died alongside his enemies. Earlier in the collection of stories told by Kevin DeYoung, the children of […]

Why we’re here

Nate Adams

A consultant assisting IBSA with strategic planning recently challenged us with this question: “Why does Illinois need a Southern Baptist brand of disciple?” He wasn’t downplaying the Great Commission nor disparaging Southern Baptists. He was making the point that there are many other Christian groups in Illinois, in fact many other evangelical groups. Especially in […]

More Columns

Mixed expectations in federal probe of SBC

Illinois Baptist Staff

Some Illinois Baptist leaders expressed surprise but are hoping for a godly outcome in a federal investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention’s handling of sexual abuse claims. “It caught me by surprise,” said Adron Robinson, an Illinois representative on the SBC Executive Committee (EC), while also urging prayer for justice. IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams […]

News

VBS 2023

2023 VBS theme revealed

Illinois Baptist Staff

The VBS for next year is based on a fictional game, “Twists and Turns.” The theme was announced just ahead of the SBC meeting in Anaheim. “Spin the spinner, beat the clock, skip ahead, level up, and play to win!” Lifeway advertised in the big reveal.  The game theme is used to teach five key […]

Lifeway targets frontier states

Former editor dies at 61

More News Stories

Mission

Annie Armstrong

How SBC missions have been influenced by Annie Armstrong

Sandy Wisdom-Martin

A few years ago, I read the SBC president at the time was considering different gavels for presiding at the SBC Annual Meeting. One of the options under consideration was the Armstrong gavel. I sent him an email with this message: This weekend I did a bit of reading on Annie Armstrong and was inspired […]

On mission again

New partnership targets biblical literacy

More Mission Stories

  • Blog
  • News
  • Mission
  • In Focus
  • Columns
  • Leaders

Copyright © 2022 · Website by Megaphone Designs