Australia's Assemblies of God church imposed rules to prevent child sex abuse. Why won't the U.S.?

The Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, does not require its churches in the U.S. to adopt strict child safety rules.

This article is part of “Pastors and Prey,” a series investigating sex abuse allegations in the Assemblies of God.

The policies sound simple: Mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse. Reference checks for all church staff and volunteers. Restrictions on who can use the title “pastor” to keep bad actors from operating under a cloak of authority.

These are child safety measures that the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, has chosen not to require in the United States. Denomination leaders in the U.S. urge congregations to adopt child protection policies, but say they cannot force all 13,000 of their churches to comply.

Halfway across the world in Australia, it’s a different story.

Amid a national reckoning over sex abuse a decade ago, Australia’s largest Assemblies of God organization voted unanimously in 2015 to require that all affiliated churches adopt child protection policies.