Dear Dakota Friends,
Our fall convention season is rapidly approaching, and we want to send out a letter about our days together. We remain committed to making our conventions a safe place for all attendees, and especially those with young children. Because of this, no known sex offenders or those with known allegations of Child Sexual Abuse/Sexual abuse (CSA/SA) will be attending any South Dakota or North Dakota convention.
While we understand no setting can be guaranteed risk free, we can practice wise conduct to deter risk. This includes a renewed awareness of the need for healthy boundaries. Our purpose is that any interactions we have with your children will be in public view. Another practice to reduce risk is to follow the buddy system introduced in the Boy Scouts of America training program. This is a system where a child is paired with another child to keep track of each other. We encourage you to follow this safe suggestion. However, this should not be considered a substitute for parental/guardian supervision.
While at convention, we don’t want to live in fear, but we must be wise. If something appears inappropriate or uncomfortable to you, please speak to someone you trust who can help you. Situations that are reported can be dealt with properly, including involving the authorities if warranted. Communication is our safety!
Please feel free to make alternative sleeping accommodations if you are uncomfortable staying on the grounds. The most convenient locations are as follows:
Utica – Yankton
Hunter – Casselton or Fargo
Mandan – Mandan or Bismarck
Any who choose to do so are welcome to listen via a conference call number which will be provided. We are aware that this option has given spiritual help to many who have listened from home in recent years.
We hope this information will help make convention an edifying and encouraging experience.
The Dakota Workers
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REMAIN COMMITED.?? you mean might be starting to maybe make it a safe place…..
FYI… we need to way better then the BOY SCOUTs..
The Boy Scout Group was know to be the worst group of all time regarding Child Sexual Abuse!
Click on the letters and statement on Google!
Hebrew 2 1….therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard!
lest at any time we should let them Slip……
GOD…said about SIN………cut it out from you people
We need to CUT it OUT……outside the camp sounds really good to me!
Somebody in Dakota needs to remind Perry that the Boy Scouts of America went bankrupt due to rampant CSA abuse. Not sure using them as an example to follow is a good idea.
Interesting that Perry is now committing to “protect” children when just a few months ago he was inviting convicted pedophiles to gospel meeting in his field.
Was Perry the one who championed the prison outreach program to child molesters and other criminals in the Appleton, Wisconsin area? Wings had posts in the past about several convicted peds from this area that attended meetings. Perry hails from Wisconsin – just trying to clarify.
it is surprising to see that the push
back we’re giving the (older workers) on rhe topical of CSA is really starting to whip some
backbone and to think that at one time
I thought the overseers were such
amazing business like men. They sure
fooled me!
“While we understand no setting can be guaranteed risk free, we can practice wise conduct to deter risk…Our purpose is that any interactions we have with your children will be in public view… The Dakota Workers”. This statement is saying: “This is a risky place for kids, but the times WE are with YOUR kids, it will be in public view so don’t worry…. The Dakota Workers”. This is flat out scary and creepy!! This sounds like the kids are going to visit someone for a visit in a prison full of Pedaphiles! But instead it is a gathering of “God’s people”, where the ministers, the leadership, will make sure everyone can see what they are doing with the kids. If this statement is even necessary for a religious convention, and the leaders of the religion, something is very wrong.
For Christ, I agree. Underscore…’Very Wrong’.
Judging isn’t a safe place either!
Do you trust sending your kids off to school!? In my lifetime I have heard of more teachers/ administrators having issues then workers at any convention setting!
Be that as it may, according to one advocate group 20 % of the abuse reported recently, had taken place on convention grounds, some during preps.
Also I’m sure there are more teachers then workers so the ratio needs to definitely be taken into consideration.
As far as judging, when we are judging what is wrong, unacceptable, and even gross sin, it is safe and right to do that.
It’s the non judging that has got us into this mess.
Concerned about judgement — is there any post that talks about Judging here? You say, “In my lifetime I have heard of more teachers/ administrators having issues then workers at any convention setting!” Since workers are supposed to be the given moral authority with the true North compass, chosen by God, it would seem the workers SHOULD have less sexual abuse problems with kids, than the everyday “worldly person”. But, from your comment it seems to be you think, maybe teachers/ administrators have the workers beat out in the sexual abuse category? Interesting. I am not sure, though. I haven’t read about the teachers being pervs in our local newspaper. And there are a lot of kids here!
I have my fair share of revulsion towards CSA and SA within the group, but do feel like we should have an accurate comparison based on statistics and studies, rather than speculation.
Per Wikipedia, in relation to sexual harassment in schools (admittedly less severe than CSA, per their definitions): “12.3% of black, 12.2% of Latino, 8.4% of white and 1.8% of Asian students indicated that they had experienced sexual harassment by teachers.” Other estimates, “…students in [public] schools is likely more than 100 times the abuse by [Catholic] priests.”
Another meta study placed the rate of cases at roughly 30,000 per year in the national education system. Again, this wasn’t saying 30,000 cases of the most severe forms of CSA, but rather cases extending from sexual comments directed towards the student all the way to direct sexual contact.
Clarifying my previous comment: none of this is to suggest that our problem isn’t severe enough to merit a strong response, but rather that we should not fool ourselves into thinking that this is such a uniquely awful situation that we can’t learn from other organizations that have had to make large-scale changes to address their own crises.
Learning from others’ experiences is a mark of both wisdom and humility, both of which were apparently historically absent.
I heard a rumor that some workers are using an application on their smartphones called “Chat GPT”. It’s a free application that you can type and ask questions to. Much like google, except it responds very fast and can write paragraphs after paragraph about any subject. For example, you can ask the app to summarize Hebrews 1 (west coast Wednesday bible study chapter tonight) and it will populate a sermon for you if you ask it to. I heard some workers were doing it on the east coast. Anyway, it’s made my sermons so much easier to speak about on Sunday and Wednesdays. I get lots of kudos and “attaboys”. Just wanted to say thanks and give a shout-out to Chat GPT for helping me and my sermons get recognized. Peace. It’s wiser than workers and it’s spot on. I don’t see the need for workers anymore after this great application for free on iPhone and android. Thanks.
Comparison of the workers being sexual predators, versus other people just doesn’t make sense! I was always taught, “the workers” were very special ones, not even considered “people”, as a human with all their earthly traits are defined. Workers were chosen by God! Workers were the same, or close to the same as Jesus Himself. What the workers said, was gospel. Workers deserved your best because of WHO there were. You better obey the workers! Workers defined excellence, sacrifice, perfection, Godliness and Holiness. Workers were actually apostles sent from God. Now, workers comparisons show they are not any different than the janitor, football coach, or the biology teacher at the local middle school?! Workers are no different than a Catholic priest? Workers sexual abuse rates are being defended against the everyday society person? The everyday man, not even Christians? Either workers are special, or their not. These arguments just state, they are not. Workers have the same fallible, human desires and characteristics as everyone else. And trying to be celibate? Those human desires are compounded. So workers, and the non-Christian janitor are comparable, based on these arguments regarding sexual abuse rates? It appears so.
It has become apparent that we have had a disgusting amount of CSA/SA at some of our conventions and at other times on some of our convention grounds, as well as in homes and who knows where. My heart aches for our victims. I must say “thank you” to the people who have diligently uncovered so much of this evil. Keep up the good work. I suppose some of these new convention rules are prudent, given our history. We are closing the barn doors after the horses are already out, but better late than never. I can’t help but ask: What did Jesus say about conventions? What did Jesus say about “from the platform”? What did Jesus say about “speaker lists”? Because I am a quite imperfect man, I appreciate His example life, His shed blood, and His forgiveness far more than I appreciate a religious tradition started by William Irvine.
Bill: Yes, It is with hearts of appreciation that there are those who realized Romans 3:12 -:13; sat down with those of knowledge AND did not budge until the Law was notified. THEN set-about bringing this complete –knowledge to the hurt and hurting::: even while those who Refuse, then protect the evil….
:13 their throat is an open sepulcher; : their tongues have used deceit: the poison of asps is under their lips: :15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
:16 Distraction and misery are in their ways: :17AND the way of peace they have not known
NO WONDER the next verse :18 There is NO “fear of God” before their eyes!!!
AND some say: ‘You have no right to “judge”!’ But the proof is::: ‘We hid our heads in the sand when we heard rumors: and refused to confront in all of it’s ugliness.. WOW; how could we confront on a subject like that when they could NOT even be approached about question we had in God’s Word!
The bottom line is to heal, the destroyed: enough to bring a semplence of normality and give back to them their stolen JOY.
We found healing and comfort in that the “Risen ascending”; Jesus Christ our Lord, How can the “destroyed” even ever trust in Our Lord Jesus Christ??
in Ephesians 2:4 – ;7(yes,, it really is). :by grace are ye SAVED through Faith – and that NOT of YOURSELVES: it is the gift if God:!
:9 Not of WORKS, least any mind should boast
Now, make the real HOPE God has “thru” what the Very risen ascended Christ Jesus Our Lord has FOR all who trust and believe as in Romans 3:24.
Thank you each one for your refusal to give-up and continue to demand all be brought out of “cover-up”. With full knowledge, only; can each heart protect themselves. Then, only then; can the hearting begin to heal.
The word in Dakota is that Perry is heading home to his mom’s place in Wisconsin to rest due to not sleeping at night. Not sure who is in charge up there now. He or she may have to edit Perry’s above guidelines.
Probably Paul Haakenson, but need Perry’s exit letter up on Wings to confirm.