St. John’s Safe Church Policy

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St. John's UCC Laurys Station has established the following policy for all members. As a community of Christian faith, we are committed to creating and maintaining programs, facilities, and a community in which members, friends, staff, and volunteers can worship, learn, and work together in an atmosphere free from all forms of discrimination, harassment, exploitation, or intimidation.

1. Read St. John's Safe Church Policy*.

The following steps apply only to volunteers working with children.

2. Sign and date the signature page of the Safe Church Policy.

3. Obtain Your PA State Police Criminal History Record.

Online using a credit card (note: if you do not have computer access but would like to use this method, you can make an appointment with the church secretary to assist you. Call Kim at 610-262-8061.)

The following criminal history information will be released by the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository upon proper request:

  • All convictions
  • All charges that are less than three years from the date of arrest and the Central Repository has not received a disposition.
  • All charges for which a warrant of arrest has been issued and the Central Repository has been notified of such warrant

It is the responsibility of users to obtain the assigned control number at the time requests are submitted. Immediately after submission of the requests one of the following statuses will be assigned to the request:

  • No Record: If this status is assigned to the request it is the user's responsibility to double click on the control number. This will take the user to the details screen where the user will double click on the blue hyper link, "Certification Form", near the center of the page. By clicking on "Certification Form", a certified no record form will be displayed in PDF format. This form should be printed.
  • Request Under Review: If this status is assigned to the request, the user must periodically check the PATCH web site to determine the final status of the request. A status of "Request Under Review", will result in one of the following final status: o No Record: Follow the instructions above for a no record response. o Record: Indicates the person has a record and a record response has been mailed to the address provided.
  • Pending: This status is occasionally assigned when traffic is extremely heavy and requires the user to check back at a later time. A request should not remain in pending status for more than 24 hours. If a request remains in pending status for more than 24 hours call the PATCH Help Line.

Via Mail

  • Request a Criminal History Request Form - SP4-164 (Updated 7-1-2009) from the church office. One Copy is to be submitted with a money order or certified check for the amount of $10.00 payable to "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

After completion mail to:
Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository - 164
1800 Elmerton Avenue
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9758

For more information, click here.

4. Obtain Your Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance

  • Contact the church office for a form, or click here to download form
  • Complete Section I of the form. Check only "Volunteers" in the Purpose of Clearance section.
  • Submit form, a copy of your Criminal Record Check and $10 payment by one of the following methods:Mail forms, plus a $10 money order
    • Submit forms to the church office plus $10 cash or check made payable to St. John's.
    • Regardless of which way you submit your form, the results will be mailed to your address.

5. Submit copies of results of Criminal History Clearance and Child Abuse History Clearances to the Church Office and signed Safe Church Policy agreement page.

Additional Forms