Advance Planning

Time for a lesson in practical application.

I ran across an article in the New York Times about how churches deal with convicted/released/registered sex offenders in their congregations. I brought it to the attention of a couple of our pastors, and after talking about it with Dawson, it was decided that I should come up with a plan ahead of time for what the church should do if a registered sex offender wants to attend the church (to then be brought to and discussed, probably at length, by the elder board).

It is a very practical concern, because on the one hand, you have a person who has sinned and needs Jesus like everybody else. On the other hand, you have concern for the safety of the women and children in the church. What sort of precedents are there? How do we present the full grace of God, and yet not allow wolves a chance at attacking the sheep?

Such people are just as human as you or I. All have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. And these people are much more likely than most to be rejected by their communities, shunned by everyone. Lepers, with whom careless contact could have disastarous results. These are people who are probably more aware of some of their faults than many people who sit smiling in churches. And so people for whom the hand of fellowship would mean so much.

But we are also charged with care for the flock, and the thought that, for example, a convicted rapist could come to our church, offer an unsuspecting girl a ride home, and take advantage of her... that's a pretty terrible thought, and but one possible scenario we want to prevent.

How in the world do we find the right balance of grace and safety? I guess I had better start figuring that out.