Background Checks Reveal Felony Offenses

During the past two years, about 900 churches and organizations conducted background checks using the discounted service offered through Lifeway, which is the publishing and research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Those background checks turned up "more than 600" felony offenses. This data was reported by the Associated Press yesterday.

There is a $10 basic-level background check option that includes a national criminal and sex offender search, said Jennie Taylor, a marketing coordinator at Lifeway. With nearly 16.2 million members, the Nashville-based SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.

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More than 900 different churches or organizations have conducted 11,277 background checks through Lifeway with backgroundchecks.com since 2008, according to Lifeway. Of those, 40 percent returned a hit — which is any kind of incident, ranging from minor traffic violations to felony convictions.

About 21 percent — or 2,320 searches — returned records with misdemeanor or felony results. More than 600 of those 2,320 returned felony offenses, Lifeway reports. Background information is then reported to Lifeway customers.