Pedophile caught; church member in denial...

[blackribbon]

I simply can't do that kind of monitoring at church. We're not set up for it, nor do I have the staff to make that kind of thing work (this information could not be shared with volunteers for confidentiality reasons).

With a child, you report if you have any reason to believe abuse is happening. With an adult, if they disclose, you report.

It's that simple.

And the report goes into the trash unless the abused wants to press charges.

So if a sexual preditor is attending your church, are you going to kick him out? What if he really is seeking God and wants to learn more about Him?

 

[Paidiske]

So if a sexual preditor is attending your church, are you going to kick him out? What if he really is seeking God and wants to learn more about Him?

I would consult with my Director of Professional Standards as to how he might be able to attend. I think - I have not dealt with such a case - the usual thing is to have an agreement that limits where they may go and what they may do on site or at church activities.

But in my view such an agreement would be almost impossible to supervise or enforce. I might have to encourage such a person to worship elsewhere (perhaps a bigger church with multiple staff).

 

[blackribbon]

I would consult with my Director of Professional Standards as to how he might be able to attend. I think - I have not dealt with such a case - the usual thing is to have an agreement that limits where they may go and what they may do on site or at church activities.

But in my view such an agreement would be almost impossible to supervise or enforce. I might have to encourage such a person to worship elsewhere (perhaps a bigger church with multiple staff).

What if a multiple physically handicapped person wanted to attend and called to see if they could find someone to assist them when they came? I honestly don't know why you couldn't find one staff member to greet such a person (the sexual preditor) when they arrived and just keep them company until they returned to their car. I almost seems like it would be neglectful of the church to not find someone. Especially when most people won't identify themselves a dangerous person...so they could be attending your church as we speak. (I am not sure how a Christian could really tell a person who was genuinely looking for Christ that "sorry, we can't accommodate you...how about XYZ church down the street"? Jesus pulled the sinners to him....

 

[Paidiske]

What if a multiple physically handicapped person wanted to attend and called to see if they could find someone to assist them when they came? I honestly don't know why you couldn't find one staff member to greet such a person (the sexual preditor) when they arrived and just keep them company until they returned to their car. I almost seems like it would be neglectful of the church to not find someone. Especially when most people won't identify themselves a dangerous person...so they could be attending your church as we speak. (I am not sure how a Christian could really tell a person who was genuinely looking for Christ that "sorry, we can't accommodate you...how about XYZ church down the street"? Jesus pulled the sinners to him....

Because my parish has one staff member; me. On Sunday mornings before and after services I have a string of people who want to talk to me about various things, some of them confidential; I have work to do in setting everything up for the service; and I might need to attend to my own needs (go to the ladies', for example). Obviously while the service is actually happening - while I am preaching, for example - it would be very difficult for me to do anything if that person decided to leave my line of sight. I do not have the ability to stick to one person's side the whole time, and there is nobody else on staff.

The difference is that if a physically disabled person came I could ask volunteers to support that person.

If a sexual predator is genuinely looking for Christ, they'll take me seriously when I explain that I don't have the resources to put accountability structures in place for them, but the bigger church down the road is open to having them.

 

[blackribbon]

Because my parish has one staff member; me. On Sunday mornings before and after services I have a string of people who want to talk to me about various things, some of them confidential; I have work to do in setting everything up for the service; and I might need to attend to my own needs (go to the ladies', for example). Obviously while the service is actually happening - while I am preaching, for example - it would be very difficult for me to do anything if that person decided to leave my line of sight. I do not have the ability to stick to one person's side the whole time, and there is nobody else on staff.

The difference is that if a physically disabled person came I could ask volunteers to support that person.

If a sexual predator is genuinely looking for Christ, they'll take me seriously when I explain that I don't have the resources to put accountability structures in place for them, but the bigger church down the road is open to having them.

A church as small as yours is the exception...but obviously, one staff member means you can't do it. I don't know why you couldn't ask for a volunteer though...but the church down the road probably does have better manpower to meet this kind of special need.

Do you really do the budget, pay the bills, make all the decisions, and clean the bathroom...along with preach?

 

[Paidiske]

A church as small as yours is the exception...

Actually, the vast majority of churches are this sort of size. Multi-staff churches, while they might have bigger profiles, are actually fewer.

I don't know why you couldn't ask for a volunteer though...

Because I would need to explain the reason why this was necessary, and it wouldn't be appropriate to make that kind of highly confidential information available to a volunteer. (Which, in reality, would have to be more than one volunteer so that the volunteer could go on holiday, or be sick, etc etc...).

Do you really do the budget, pay the bills, make all the decisions, and clean the bathroom...along with preach?

No! I have a volunteer treasurer who does the budget and handles the money. We have a parish council which makes decisions together. And we pay an external cleaner to come in once a week.

But I do a lot of things that pastors/ministers in multi-staff churches would never have to do. For example, just now I had to deal with an external group renting our hall, and go and deliver them a key. And I do a lot of the administrative stuff (like preparing the projector slides for Sunday mornings) because there just isn't anyone else to do it.