Sex Offenders in Congregations
Read Marie's blog and Kansas City Star's article.
No Sex Offenders in Church?
“I’m a convicted sex offender and I would like to attend this church." At FaithTrust Institute, we are receiving weekly inquiries about this situation from anxious clergy and congregations. Some congregations are turning away offenders. This initial reaction may be understandable, but let’s be clear: The identified, self-acknowledged sex offender is the least of a congregation’s worries.
Continue reading Marie Fortune's blog "No Sex Offenders in Church? Part I"
With Open Arms and Open Eyes, Churches Minister to Sex Offenders
by Laura Bauer, The Kansas City Star
Published: July 31, 2010
Within days of attending a Sunday service at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, a Johnson County man received an unexpected e-mail.
Security officials at the Leawood megachurch wanted to see him immediately. They told him this summer that some rules needed to be set if he wished to come back to worship.
He must go straight to the sanctuary before service and leave immediately after it ended — no dawdling. There would be no direct contact with church staff.
Only a single-stool restroom on the church campus could be used.
And under no circumstances could he enter the children’s wing of the church.
The man is a registered sex offender, convicted seven years ago of possessing child pornography. He’s also one of a special class of worshippers whom most churches across the country want to welcome — but very carefully.
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