Background Checks
Background checks for pastors and staff
Criminal, identity, employment, education, and driving record checks for paid staff, ordered and tracked in one dashboard.
See employment background checksChurch background checks for staff and volunteers.
Screen everyone who serves in your ministries, from the nursery to the church van. Bchex runs background checks for pastors and church staff, and SecureVolunteer handles volunteer sign-up, screening, and renewals in one place.
- Criminal, sex offender registry, and driving record checks
- Volunteers complete their screening from their phone
- Your church, the volunteer, or both can pay
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Who a church should screen.
Start with every role that serves children, youth, or vulnerable adults, paid or volunteer. Then add the roles with access to money, vehicles, or keys.
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Children’s, nursery, and youth ministry
Criminal searches, the sex offender registry, and references, plus your state’s child abuse registry where one is offered.
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Pastors and paid staff
Criminal searches and the sex offender registry, plus employment and education verification.
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Camps, retreats, and mission trips
Criminal searches and the sex offender registry for every adult leader, and a driving record for anyone who drives.
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Drivers for church vans and buses
A motor vehicle record plus criminal searches, rechecked on a schedule.
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Finance team and money counters
County and federal criminal searches. Federal court records cover crimes such as fraud.
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Safety and security team
Criminal searches and the sex offender registry, plus references.
Your insurance carrier may set its own screening rules for roles with children. Writing your church’s policy? Read the church background check policy guide.
What a church background check includes.
Most church checks pair identity and criminal searches with the registries that matter for ministry work, in a package built for each role.
Identity and address history
Confirms who the person is and where they’ve lived, which shows where to search.
County criminal search
Felony and misdemeanor cases from the courts where the person has lived.
Statewide and federal searches
State court and repository records, plus federal cases that county courts don’t handle.
National criminal database
A broad scan that can surface records in other states, confirmed at the source.
Sex offender registry
Registrations across state sex offender registries.
Driving records (MVR)
License status, violations, and suspensions for anyone who drives for the church.
Employment and education verification
Confirms past jobs and degrees for pastors and paid staff.
Reference checks
Feedback from past employers or ministry leaders before someone serves.
One team for staff, volunteers, and visitors.
Most churches screen paid staff and volunteers in different ways. Bchex covers both, and Chexpass checks in visitors at your building, with one support team behind all three.
Volunteer screening from sign-up to renewal
Volunteers sign up and complete their screening from their phone. You see every clearance and renewal date in one dashboard.
See volunteer management software
Know who’s in the building
Visitor check-in that screens and badges visitors at the door and alerts staff in real time. Free for one location.
See Chexpass visitor managementHow volunteer screening works with SecureVolunteer.
Volunteers aren’t job applicants. They’re signing up to help, so screening should be quick and clear for them and simple for the person who runs it.
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Volunteers apply online
Each volunteer gets a link, fills out a short form on a phone or computer, and gives consent online. Your church can pay, ask volunteers to pay, or split the cost.
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Approve automatically or by review
When a volunteer’s checks clear, SecureVolunteer can approve them automatically or send them to someone on your team to review first.
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Track every clearance and renewal
See who’s cleared to serve where, with each clearance’s expiration date, so rescreening happens on time.
How Centreville Baptist Church screens volunteers.
Jeff Thorpe leads security and safety at Centreville Baptist Church in Centreville, Virginia, where every volunteer in the children’s and youth programs gets a criminal background check.
[Bchex] is an invaluable resource we use. It’s inexpensive, and we would be lost without it. It helps us do our mission to protect our congregation.
Jeff ThorpeDirector of Security and Safety, Centreville Baptist Church
Do churches need to run background checks?
No single federal law requires churches to screen volunteers, but screening is widely recommended for anyone who works with children, youth, or vulnerable adults, and some states and insurance carriers require it for certain roles. For paid staff, the Fair Credit Reporting Act sets the steps when you use a background check company.
What does a church background check include?
Most include identity and address history, county and statewide criminal searches, and a sex offender registry search. Churches add a driving record for anyone who drives and employment and education verification for staff. See every check.
Who should a church background check?
Screen everyone who serves with children, youth, or vulnerable adults, paid or volunteer, plus anyone who drives for the church, handles money, or serves on the safety team. Many churches screen all regular volunteers so everyone meets the same standard.
How long does a church background check take?
At Bchex, about 85% of eligible searches come back within 24 hours. Searches that need a court clerk to pull records by hand can take longer, so it helps to start screening a week or two before someone is scheduled to serve.
How much does a church background check cost?
It depends on the searches each role needs. Many churches use one package for most volunteers and add a driving record for drivers. With SecureVolunteer, the church, the volunteer, or both can pay. Talk to our team about pricing for your church.
How often should a church rescreen volunteers?
Many churches rescreen every one to three years. SecureVolunteer tracks each volunteer’s clearances and expiration dates, so you can see who is due before a clearance lapses. How often to rescreen volunteers.
Do volunteers have to consent to a background check?
Always get written consent before you run a check. For employees, federal law requires a written disclosure and authorization when you use a background check company, and it’s good practice to follow the same steps for volunteers. SecureVolunteer collects consent online when volunteers apply.
Is there a free background check for churches?
The National Sex Offender Public Website searches state sex offender registries for free. It doesn’t include court records or confirm identity, so it works best as a first look, not a replacement for a full background check.
Bchex is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Check your state’s requirements and your insurance policy.
Screen your staff and volunteers in one place.
See how SecureVolunteer runs volunteer screening from sign-up to renewal, or talk with our team about your ministries.
Writing a screening policy first? Read the church background check policy guide.