"One of the most vexing problems facing ... the church, is how to deal with sex offenders"

I know of a church that lost a lot of people because of sex offenders. They now walk sex offenders to the bathroom, etc.; the offender is never alone. The church has grown primarily through specializing in the motorcylce and tattooed bunch, and I think they are changing lives.

And this is probably the best way to handle such an issue. Churches have to specialize. I remember Ed Dobson’s church in Grand Rapids (don’t know much about them now, so my info is like 15 or 20 years old); they specialized in reaching gays.

In the average, more traditional church, we are not set up (nor do we have the mentality) to properly handle such issues. Most of our churches do background checks on leaders, etc., and our approach is to keep sex offenders out. I don’t know that this is a bad approach. The damage a molester can do can easily neutralize the good we try to do. Destruction can be fast and massive; construction, slow and steady.

Our main concern should be protecting the sheep (esp. the young ones), even above the call to grow the flock. Those who want to reach sex offenders are to be commended, but they had better get it right.

Do you do background checks on those just seeking to join your church? What would you do if you found out that a member was an offender, perhaps many years ago when they were much younger (i.e. a juvenile who’s record has been cleared and sealed and is now a fully repentant adult)? Would you escort him/her out and tell them not to return? How would you treat a sex offender who was just seeking to worship with you, if he promised to abide by any and all rules set up, including escort rules? I’m not talking about the person requesting leadership that will bring them into contact with children either. I can understand in the OP article (I think that’s where it was) that a woman who was an offender balked at the rules after a period of time. If that is the case, then certainly she should be asked to leave, but I would expect that from ANYONE who balks at “rules” that are set up to protect. Someone who is truly repentant would NEVER EVER balk at obeying any rules set up to protect the innocent. They fully understand the consequences of their actions. Is there any room for them at your church? Would you work with them to find a place for them to continue to grow and worship, or just toss them to the curb? Ah yes, the unforgivable sin. Right up there with divorce.

[Teri Ploski] Do you do background checks on those just seeking to join your church? What would you do if you found out that a member was an offender, perhaps many years ago when they were much younger (i.e. a juvenile who’s record has been cleared and sealed and is now a fully repentant adult)? Would you escort him/her out and tell them not to return? How would you treat a sex offender who was just seeking to worship with you, if he promised to abide by any and all rules set up, including escort rules? I’m not talking about the person requesting leadership that will bring them into contact with children either. I can understand in the OP article (I think that’s where it was) that a woman who was an offender balked at the rules after a period of time. If that is the case, then certainly she should be asked to leave, but I would expect that from ANYONE who balks at “rules” that are set up to protect. Someone who is truly repentant would NEVER EVER balk at obeying any rules set up to protect the innocent. They fully understand the consequences of their actions. Is there any room for them at your church? Would you work with them to find a place for them to continue to grow and worship, or just toss them to the curb? Ah yes, the unforgivable sin. Right up there with divorce.

Teri, child molesting may not be the unforgiveable sin, but it does some of the longest term damage. In Mark 9:42 molesting might be what Jesus had in mind:

“And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.

I agree that divorce messes up kids and leaves a profound effect for their entire lifetime, but not like molesting.

As far as child molesters go, I do think you need to make a distinction between a teenager who mooned someone and an adult who raped or fondled a child. We give every form of violation in this area the title of “child molesting,” thus making them equal. They are not. So I am not suggesting that we escape from reason on this thing.

But I am saying that child molesters — particularly those that have molested non-family members — are a great danger and often repeat. And many times the kids that were molested grow up to become molesters themselves; others exhibit mental illnesses of various types.

As far as checking everyone who attends our church, no, we do not run a background check. But, every couple of years, I do scan the list of convicted child molesters in my state (it is available for free online).

We had one man attending here who was not on that list. We found out he was convicted in another state. Because we would not let him get involved in children’s ministry, he left our church. He began attending another with a school. He applied for a job at the school, and I called the pastor. They had only checked the state and had not even thought of doing a national check. He was also getting chummy with a family near him and babysitting their kids. The pastor warned the family, but they would not believe him. Then, months later, they found out he was molesting their daughter.

It is not worth putting your kids in danger in an attempt to disciple someone. And it is that “danger” likelihood that you must assess. But the consequences for a misjudgment could ruin a life.

It’s just not worth it.

I still assert that the first job of a shepherd is to protect the sheep.

I imagine that if a person wants to attend and eventually become a member of a church, if they are on a sex offender registry they would, at some point before attempting to join and after enough visits to become familiar with the doctrine and practices of the church, (and if they are earnest and have the interest of the church body, their family and themselves in mind) would contact the Pastor(s) and have a sit down, revealing the necessary details, their life since the offense and the request the Pastor(s) take time to evaluate the information given and then, at a second meeting with the appropriate parties, cover what (if any) special boundaries or requirements will be in place.

I have no doubt there are men and women on the registry who have families with children of all ages which would add an additional complexity with respect to anyone trying to simply approach it as a blanket rule seeing that they have their own children and would, by default, have to come in contact with other children. Every context is different.

If a person is found to have joined a church and did so without having revealed he or she is registered, even the one must look to discover why. It may be that they were treated with overreaction at other churches and are intimidated or it may be that they are indeed, hiding and predatory. A wise Pastor(s) and whomever else is involved in learning of this sensitive information should deal with it discretely but with wisdom and courage seeing that sometimes you simply may have to redirect someone if they are evasive or at times you may have to abridge the reach of the registry and the “Nancy Grace” mentality and insure an atmosphere that allows the member the fullest possible involvement in the ministry.

A person who is in this context, one that places them on a registry for sex offenders yet is moving or has moved for many years away from that offense to a life rich in the wisdom and knowledge of God and fidelity to truth and discipleship with God will understand certain probationary measures and necessities if it is called for until trust and confidence can be established. However it should be done with the greatest discretion and without a drift toward condescension or necessary public revelation and discussion.

[Ed Vasicek] The church has grown primarily through specializing in the motorcylce and tattooed bunch, and I think they are changing lives.

And this is probably the best way to handle such an issue. Churches have to specialize. I remember Ed Dobson’s church in Grand Rapids (don’t know much about them now, so my info is like 15 or 20 years old); they specialized in reaching gays.

i think this is true. not just about sin issues, but about a lot of cultural/ethnic issues. there are other issues that are “specialized,” like gypsies and the deaf (two examples), here in ukraine. really, especially at first, it’s better if that is specialized; it’s more effective all around.

We don’t do background checks on every member. But we handle things similar to the way Ed does. Whenver we havesex offenders, I discretely let the deacons know and we “watched.” The offender knew as well. He knew he was being watched for his protection. He was never alone with any children. He was happy for our protection….

You know, a young man who accepted Christ told me and the elders that he had molested a child when he was a teen, and that he eventually turned himself in and served time (or whatever it is that juveniles serve).

We still did not allow him to participate with kids, although he fellowshipped with us and we informally kept an eye on him. WE had no troubles that way. Then he and his wife moved out of state, he got involved with a church there that did allow him access to youth, despite his disclosure. There, he ended up molesting a young teen.

It’s tough.