For One Company, Snooping Around Is a Ministry

c. 2007 Religion News Service (RNS) For the folks at Oxford Document Management Company, it’s not snooping. It’s a divine mission. With a full-time staff of just three, the Anoka, Minn.-based background investigation firm has beat out bigger rivals to become the go-to gumshoes for religious groups across the United States. All but a handful […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

(RNS) For the folks at Oxford Document Management Company, it’s not snooping. It’s a divine mission.

With a full-time staff of just three, the Anoka, Minn.-based background investigation firm has beat out bigger rivals to become the go-to gumshoes for religious groups across the United States.


All but a handful of Oxford’s 1,000-odd clients are churches or denominational bodies, such as dioceses and synods. Glen Johnson, who founded the company 16 years ago, said those are the only clients he seeks.

“I wanted to help them out because I’m a Christian person and I saw the need for this,” said Johnson, 48. Oxford keeps the business’s prices low _ up to $225 for a “full-service” check _ so churches don’t have to pass the plate to keep safe, said Chuck Koterba, the firm’s director of client services.

Oxford employees have been called by God, they say, to keep churches clear of sexual predators, fiduciary finaglers and general ne’er-do-wells. Clients praise the firm for helping them determine how serious a potential employee’s infractions are _ either a momentary lapse of judgment or an extended tour through the seedy side of life.

With high-profile and costly cases of clergy abuse and financial mismanagement roiling U.S. churches, background checks have come to be a necessary part of due diligence. Increasingly, insurance companies require them, and people in the pews expect them.

“Unfortunately, in a way, this is a growing business,” said Oxford’s vice president, Bob Leverentz.

In February, the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) both activated background-check programs through Oxford. They join at least 99 Episcopal dioceses, 58 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America synods, 13 United Methodist regional conferences, six Roman Catholic dioceses, four African Methodist Episcopal Zion districts and about 10 other Christian denominations on Oxford’s roster of clients. Some ask for full criminal and credit reports. Others ask only for reference checks.

The Rev. Warren Lynn, director of “search and call” in the Disciples of Christ’s office of Christian Vocations, said Oxford was the only background firm that could provide what his denomination needed.


“They were originally set up to work with the ecclesiastical system. They weren’t set up for the business community. They were set up to meet the needs of the Christian community,” said Lynn.

Johnson founded Oxford after Minnesota passed a law requiring background checks for people involved in psychological counseling, including clergy. Business started booming in the mid-1990s, when a number of Episcopal dioceses began using Oxford to check the references and history of its ministers and bishops.

Around that time, Episcopal dioceses in New England required ministers to fill out questionnaires asking for deeply personal details _ such as alcohol use and sexual history. A number of priests balked at the questions and Oxford was caught in the crossfire.

“People were riled up,” Johnson said, recalling how Oxford was compared to an insidious Big Brother.

But the ruckus settled down, at least for Oxford, when priests realized it was their bishops who wanted the answers, not the background investigators.

Now, Oxford administers similar questionnaires for other mainline denominations, such as the United Methodist Church. Each denomination tailors the background checks to their own needs and internal rules _ some ask about sexual orientation, for example, others do not.


“Obviously, the Presbyterians talk a little different than the Episcopalians,” Johnson said.

When Oxford conducts full credit and criminal checks, they most often “find hits” on traffic violations and financial problems, said Chuck Koterba,Oxford’s director of client services.

“With lots of clergy, their spiritual gift is not financial management,” Koterba said, adding that money issues can lead to other problems, such as gambling, spousal abuse and drug use.

Still, serious infractions are rare among the pulpit set, said Koterba and Johnson, despite the media attention surrounding clergy misconduct.

Company officials say they get no satisfaction in finding the rare red flag _ though they’re happy to protect churches.

“To me this job is my ministry,” Koterba said. “It’s the work God wants me to do.”

KRE/RB END BURKE

Editors: To obtain an illustration to accompany this story, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.


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