Ministry challenges

There's no doubt that ministry is tougher now than it was in the early 80's when I began my pastoral ministry. Pastors today face issues that I never had to face, at least not in my small, rural church. We had our issues and challenges but nothing like what ministers must address today. In this posting I want to address just one such issue: what do you do when an admitted pedophile wants to attend your church?

In recent weeks I have become aware of several churches that have faced this issue. A person approaches the pastor asking if he can begin attending the church services and then admits that he is a convicted sex offender. Perhaps he has served time for his offense and is now on probation. His face and personal information are posted on the sex offender web site. What is the pastor and church to do? There's no question that church is where this person needs to be, but there is also the question of how to ensure the church is a safe place for everyone. Like all persons, this individual needs a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but there must also be safeguards in place to protect children and young people from possible harm. There are also legal liability issues to consider.

In the case of a pedophile a part of their probation will normally not allow them contact with children. A church can certainly prevent such people from holding church offices and from working with children and young people, but there is no way to prevent them from having any contact with children in the church. There will be times when children are all over the facility including in the proximity of the offender. How would a church warn their children to avoid this individual without making them frightened of him or other adults? Is such a warning necessary?

Another challenge: is it necessary for the church leadership to let the congregation know they have a sex offender in their services? If so, how can this be done without violating confidentialty? How much of this person's past should be told? Still another issue: what about the person who was charged with a sex offense but allowed to plead down to a lesser offence that resulted in him not being required to register as a sex offender?

Throughout this posting I have used masculine pronouns, but some sex offenders are women. We've all read headlines in recent years about female teachers having relationships with male students. Although most sex offenders are male, there are some female offenders as well. Are they treated the same as male offenders would be?

Although I have not exhausted the subject I'll address just one more area. In some cases, the families of a sex offender have remained with him, and the entire family attends church together. How will the family be received in the church? How will their pain be addressed?

I come to this topic with a lot of questions and few answers. One thing I am certain of is that your church, no matter if it is bivocational or not and regardless of its size, may one day face this issue. It will be much better to have some policies in place before you have to address it than after you are confronted with it. I would like to know if some of our readers have addressed this in their churches and what decisions they made. Your sharing can be a valuable service to all of us.