Safety

I started to subtitle this post “ACS is the devil!”  Yeah, I don’t believe that for a SECOND!!!  ACS is AWESOME!!

Several years ago we started talking about using the ACS CheckPoint system, in which people check their children in to activities and events at our church.  The software logs their attendance and prints a badge for each child and a parents badge with a transaction number that matches each kid.  This number can be used to verify the identity of the parent when the child is picked up.  In a VBS that is running about 450 children and adults, and many of the kids are from the community and NOT regular EBC attenders, this is the SAFEST WAY I know of to protect children.  Having NO security makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER in this day and age.

I never thought anyone would ever complain or criticize the fact that we were taking measures for safety.  And last night I was proved wrong.  I won’t go into details, but let me just say that I do NOT believe Ebenezer is enabling the Mark of the Beast by using this system.  The numbers are randomly generated and we neither keep them nor upload them to any type of national database.  We are NOT taking the easy way out in this.  The system works when we do it right, and it makes me feel safer as a pastor that we do it.  Kudos to ACS for this system!!

And I will NOT apologize for taking steps to ensure the safety of children at Ebenezer.