What Washington’s New Clergy Mandatory Reporting Law Means for your Church and Pastors

Because we service many churches and Christian ministries, we keep a pulse on legal matters that these organizations can encounter and pass along best practices to help them stay compliant and functioning well. Though our society is increasingly litigious, we have seen great strides from Christian ministries to proactively prevent and address abuse in their kids and youth ministries. This includes complying with current mandatory reporting requirements for supervisors in those specific ministries.

A new law becomes effective July, 2025, where pastors and other clergy members in Washington have new mandatory reporting obligations that apply even outside their ministry context and even when the abuse or neglect is shared or confessed in confidence.

Our next webinar will address this new law and discover ways to best comply with this.  Join church lawyer Troy Anderson and Pete Blum with Battershell & Nichols for this timely webinar. It will help to clarify these new reporting requirements, including when and how to report suspected abuse or neglect, and how to be ready to fulfill this additional requirement to protect children and youth.

Our upcoming webinar will be held on Wednesday, June 25th, 2025, at 12 pm. Please note this is an hour earlier than our usual time. We will delve into the following topics:

• Washington law requires mandatory reporters to report any suspected abuse or neglect of a child under 18 years old.
  • Kids and youth ministry supervisors are currently mandatory reporters of suspected abuse by staff or volunteers.
• Starting in July 2025, all members of the clergy will become mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect.
  • This mandatory reporting requirement isn’t limited to their ministry context. Reporting is required even if the abuse is revealed in a confidential discussion covered by the clergy-penitent privilege.
• We will answer questions like:
  • What does this mean for your church and your pastors?
  • What steps should you take to be ready to fulfill this new requirement to protect children and youth?

Note: CPE Credit is available for those who attend the live webinar.

Webinar CPE info:

• Prerequisites and Preparation: None
• Designed for: Clergy and Ministry Supervisors
• CPE credit: 1 hour, Non-Technical
• Format: Live webinar presentation