Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

Australia’s largest Pentecostal denomination is spotlighted in an NBC investigation contrasting ACC’s stringent child-safety reforms with allegations of weaker protections within the US Assemblies of God.

Australia’s largest Pentecostal denomination is at the centre of a major NBC investigation into child protection practices in the United States.

NBC has accused the American-based Assemblies of God (AG) of failing families for not implementing the same hardline protections put in place by Australian Christian Churches (ACC).

ACC – formerly Assemblies of God – initiated some of Australia’s most rigorous safeguards following the 2013-2017 Independent Royal Commission into Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Tripling down on making their churches safer, ACC has consistently kept its firm commitment to “adopt and implement child protection policies.”

These are not optional.

According to the ACC website, “strategies include guidelines, procedures and templates to assist our churches as they implement their child protection policy.”

To help with this, the ACC has “training courses for credential holders, board members and volunteers.”

Notably, “credential holders are required to undergo safer churches training every three years to maintain their ministry credential.”

A helpline is also in place where anyone can register “concerns regarding the safety of children or other vulnerable people at an ACC Church.”

Strict Guidelines

ACC’s inadvertent thrust into the national spotlight is part of an NBC series investigating child sexual abuse in the AG, called “Pastors and Prey”.

Although ACC and the AG are independent entities, NBC leaned on the ACC’s child protection policies to show a stark contrast between the two.

Impressed with ACC’s approach, NBC questioned why its close US cousin hadn’t assimilated the same responsible policy and procedures.

Such as mandatory reporting, reference checks on volunteers, and restrictions on “who can use the title ‘pastor’.”

Pitting the ACC Australian model against the AG’s practices, NBC alleged that the AG were not taking “child safety measures” seriously enough.

“As of now,” they alleged, “no Assemblies of God US leaders are either willing or able to recognise that there is a problem.”

Noting how pressure from the Royal Commission forced changes in Australian institutions, the NBC blamed the AG’s resistance for making change harder.

Citing a former AG pastor from Texas, NBC said,

“The reforms in Australia demonstrate that the US church could impose child safety rules without running afoul of core theology.”

They could implement them — the network added, the question is, “Would they?”

Claim: Reforms Downvoted

NBC then alleged that the AG and its 13,000 US churches currently operated without any real accountability.

Acknowledging critics who believe the ACC’s safeguards still don’t go far enough, NBC said, the Aussies “have at least done more than US Assemblies of God leaders have been willing to do.”

Making their point stick, NBC claimed that ACC’s child safety reforms were considered, then voted down by the US AG’s General Council in 2019 and 2021.

AG responded with three press releases specific to NBC’s investigation and subsequent accusations.

These show AG answering some claims, refuting others, and the church expressing gratitude to victims “who had bravely shared their stories.”

The response included AG asserting that the denomination “continues to urge churches and ministries to adopt strict preventative measures.”

By far the strongest reply was made on 30 October 2025.

The church asserted that it considers abusive behaviour to be contradictory to its core beliefs.

“Abuse of any kind has no place in the Assemblies of God,” the church said.

“Abuse against minors is especially reprehensible and unconscionable.”

To this AG added,

“The Assemblies of God grieves with anyone who has been hurt by the actions of an abuser.”

“One instance of abuse is too many. And the General Council of the Assemblies of God is committed to child safety and has an established track record of leadership in this area.”

Robust Rebuttal

As such, AG rebuked NBC’s claims about seriousness and sloppy safeguards, asserting that,

“The report published by NBC News was profoundly disappointing because it was peppered with misleading information.”

Effectively accusing NBC of confirmation bias, the church argued that the network had omitted facts and used selective examples to back its allegations.

“Importantly, the NBC article inaccurately states that the Assemblies of God has resisted background checks, screenings, and mandatory reporting.”

“This is false,” AG commented.

“Background checks and screenings are a well-established part of the Assemblies of God credentialing process.”

To add, “the General Council voluntarily considers itself a mandatory reporter.”

“The article suggests that there was a path to restore ministers guilty of child sexual misconduct as late as 2021, but this has been strictly prohibited for decades,” AG determined.

“No minister may obtain or retain AG credentials if they have been found guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor.”

The US Pentecostal denomination concluded its rebuttal of NBC’s claims with 6 FAQs.

Among those was a clearly stated commitment to child safety protocols, which AG explained “are more stringent than those of many public schools.”

___

Image courtesy of Adobe.