Pedophile attending church.

[Cindi Hammons]

This article from Foxnews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256486,00.html) was interesting.

What do these people do? I know the "right" answer is to invite him into the church family and shower him with love. The "wrong" answer is the one that is flitting through the minds of every parent of a child at that church. I don't know my answer.

What do you guys think?

[Wilson L. Deaton]

I can't comment on the exact details of their plan but I think their concept is on target. Let him come, take him in, show him love, but establish some restrictions concerning access, accountibility, etc.

Wilson

[David Cash]

Interesting situation. I'd have to agree to letting him come, but by all means, keep him away from the children. He's also going to need to live up to the agreement. Hard, sad situation.

David Cash

[Mamie White]

We have a man and his wife attending our church. This is his hometown and he attended this church as a young man. The man is about 55 years old. He was living in Houston and in 1999 was arrested and charged with
sexual contact with a 9 year old girl
They moved back to Jacksonville and started back to our church with his
family. He immediately went to the Church Board and told them, I want to
attend church but I am a registered sex offender. He said if they agreed to
let him attend, he just wanted to let them know he could not work with Children but was willing to help financially with their activities. He told them
God had forgiven me and he would like the same from the church. This
man is in every church service and is active in all activities except for
children. This is a great supporter and everyone has taken him and his
family in and loves them. If someone in the church had not told me I would
have never known about this man's past. But I never think of this man as
a sex offender. I see him as a Brother in Christ. We all have our past history so I try to be careful where I cast stones.

Mamie

[Dave McClung]

This article from Foxnews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256486,00.html) was interesting.

What do these people do? I know the "right" answer is to invite him into the church family and shower him with love. The "wrong" answer is the one that is flitting through the minds of every parent of a child at that church. I don't know my answer.

What do you guys think?

I am really torn. If you Google the offender's name, you find that the offender is seeking "community" in the church. In the past, until he was excluded, he sought community in nudist colonies. The offenses for which he was convicted arose out of his contact with children in a nudist society.

A mother in the church he is attending was quoted as saying that she can't help wondering what kinds of fanticies this man is having about her daughter. Isn't that a reasonable concern?

It seems to me that even if the peodiphile is prevented from physically touching children, it is impossible to prevent him from having improper thoughts about them. For the same reasons that we encourage modesty for our children, we should seek to protect children from being objects of lust.

It seems to me that this congregation is attempting to reach out to an individual who really needs the church while still protecting the innocents. I applaud them for attempting to find a fair balance.

[Dennis M. Scott]

The church exists for addicts, adulterers, fornicators, pedophiles, and sinners of every type. Setting limits and guidelines is appropriate and necessary. Those strictures are certainly helpful and some might say essential. The church would be doing less than she should to not set those limits. Part of demonstrating love to the pedophile is to help that individual avoid situations wherein opportunity and temptation lurk.

Such help would be welcomed by others who have not been legally classified as sex offenders. I have had people who might range widely on the sex addict identification scale plead with me that the church might offer them a similar sanctuary. Frequently it is an issue of how the other gender dresses and behaves, but it isn't confined to one gender. Neither is it of concern only with those who we might think of as deviant or promiscuous. While the obvious would be that those with hormones raging would be especially vulnerable, octogerarians have also confided what they described as a troublesome fantasy life triggered by people at church. Members of the opposite sex frequently are not discreet in the presence of people in their eighties and nineties.

I'm not convinced that things would be solved by a return to Victorian rules. We have a lot to work on, however, and I too, applaud congregations that are willing to work with the issues like the one to which Cindi and this article have pointed us.

[Terri Knoll]

This article from Foxnews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256486,00.html) was interesting.

What do these people do? I know the "right" answer is to invite him into the church family and shower him with love. The "wrong" answer is the one that is flitting through the minds of every parent of a child at that church. I don't know my answer.

What do you guys think?

open about it and seeking help, then not to know the person sitting behind me is doing it in secret.

[Sue Pyles]

My first reaction to your question was "What would Jesus do?"
I am trying to always see people through the eyes of Jesus.
This iis a tough situation,but I think Jesus woulds love and accept the pedophile.
I definitely believe he should not be allowed to work with the children.I'm not so sure they are easily rehabilitated or if they can be.
Working in the school system, I am aware of the ones registered in my area.
I have had to ask God for a special grace more than once to deal with a father that molested his own 8 year old daughter, and for the mother who allowed it to happen.
I am anxious to read more comments from the Naznetters on this subject.

[Paul Whitaker]

On one of the trips I went on with college students I was called the night before with the information that one of the participants was under suspicion for abuse of children. Ellen was going with me so she spent all waking hours in his shadow. She, being the talented one she is, found ways to be working with him almost all of the time. Folks, we need to let those who sponsor trips, etc know about such before the departure time is so close.

[John Kennedy]

I hate to be so crass as to mention money, but churches need to remember very real liability issues. The overwhelmingly strong possibility of the RC Docese (sp?) going into bankruptcy.

When I was teaching I attempted to drum into the heads of my students the maxim that "Smart people learn from their own mistakes - smarter people learn from others'."

[Dennis M. Scott]

I hate to be so crass as to mention money, but churches need to remember very real liability issues. The overwhelmingly strong possibility of the RC Docese (sp?) going into bankruptcy.

When I was teaching I attempted to drum into the heads of my students the maxim that "Smart people learn from their own mistakes - smarter people learn from others'."


You're right. Right also are those who have battled that pedophiles have rights, too. So there is this catch 22 place, and the church is in it.

Your question resonates as to the liability issue when adulterous persons are put in positions of power, even limited power.

Unfortunately also you're right: the whole thing is crass. Reality, but crass.

[John Kennedy]

Well, my hope is that if it's crass, at least it'll be class crass.

[Dennis M. Scott]

Well, my hope is that if it's crass, at least it'll be class crass.

With your permission, I'll try to quote you! It's a little difficult to say, isn't it?