This situation occurred at a friend's church. My friend was concerned about the amount of attention a man at church was paying to her three young daughters. She did a search of the sex offender registry and found out that he was a convicted child molester. The church leadership apparently already knew about it, and the whole issue just wasn't handled well. The man ended up leaving once his secret was out.
If a known Sex Offender came to your church and wanted to join, how would you respond?
My answer: NO!!!
Depends on the offense. An 18-year old can have consentual sex with his 17-year old girlfriend and be registered as a sex offender for decades afterward.
If you are talking about child molestation, that is a different story. Assuming the legal issues are behind, I believe that a person of that sort be put into a men's only small group for a couple years. He also needs to be discipled one-on-one for a large period of time. When he has proven to have been repentant on the individual scale, an elder must also spend time with him and use discernment. Assuming the elder feels true transformation after YEARS, he can present the man before the congregation and allow him to attend WITH stipulations; the man can never work with children and the man cannot go into any room (including the rest room) alone while on church property.
If a man is truly repentant, he will go though all the hoops. If not, he will leave.
__________________
~ Dan
All this flashy rhetoric about loving you
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through;
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.
Peace, assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin;
I talk of love - a scholar's parrot may talk Greek -
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.
He is listed on the National Registry for Sexual Offenders. It is for Rape of a child.
If he is truly saved, I believe he should go back to the church where his membership supposedly is and make restitution and restoration there. If he is not willing to do that, then he can never be right with God in any church.
__________________
"My Motto is, 'I yield to none.' I preach what I like, when I like, and as I like." Spurgeon
If a known Sex Offender came to your church and wanted to join, how would you respond?
My answer: NO!!!
it would depend on the circumstances of thier case
there are people on a sex offenders list just for having consexual sex when they were teenagers with anouther teenager the same age.
there are others on there for reasons just as stupid.
those lists do no give the circumstance or details of thier cases, or how old they were when the crime happened.
thus a person in thier 30's. wil be shown having commited a crime againt someone under 17, but wont mention that the person was 16 or 17 when the offence happened.
those lists went back retroactivly in many states, meaning you could have pled guitly to public indencecy to making out in your car as a teen, and years later find you have to now register as a sex offender for the rest of your life because of it.
and have many restrictions placed on your life as to where you can live, and work.
in illinois until recently, if you were ever convicted or pled guilty to a violent crime against a minor, even if you were a minor when you commmited the crime, you had to register as a sex offender.
parents who take thier kids illegaly in custody cases, have had to register in some states for those lists as well.
those lists need to be cleaned up and only the offenders that are a danger need to be on them.
With the caveats that you put on it, then No would be my answer. However, you can be labeled as a sexual offender for urination in public so as a lot of people said, it would be based on what the offense is.
By the way, at the time of the crime, he was 43, she was 13.
We would have several families that would walk out of the church as soon as he joined.
If he is repentant (or claims to be), have him discipled by church men away from the church. Do not allow him to church activities including services apart from activities involving strictly men.
After a few years, then slowly let him attend services but only if he sits with a designated man. Of course he will never be allowed to ever work in children's ministry.
__________________
~ Dan
All this flashy rhetoric about loving you
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through;
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.
Peace, assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin;
I talk of love - a scholar's parrot may talk Greek -
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.
If he is repentant (or claims to be), have him discipled by church men away from the church. Do not allow him to church activities including services apart from activities involving strictly men.
After a few years, then slowly let him attend services but only if he sits with a designated man. Of course he will never be allowed to ever work in children's ministry.
That would be good, but psychological studies have shown that people who are convicted of raping children and serve time and are released almost always attempt the crime again. He can say whatever he wants, but if he gets to a point in his life where he can convince himself that having sex with a child is okay, he is too far gone in my opinion. I'm not saying God can't save him, but it is very, very unlikely in this scenario.
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Sexual Offender as Church Member
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