Pastor/Staff Pedophiles

Oh, let me be clear about something. To be clean and legal and keep from incurring civil liability, the applicant is asked to sign a release form that allows release of all criminal and credit records for purposes of employment review only. This must be signed before they will be considered; but it also protects the church requesting the background check. This is made clear to the applicant "UP front", then they can decide if they wish to apply. I usually recommend mandatory drug testing also, even for church leaders.

 

Pastor Lynn, i'm sure you know YOU did nothing wrong...and that if the people who accused you were REALLY Christians, theyda investigated before making an accusation.

My dad has told me from my childhood that nothing is idiot-proof, gossip-proof, or criminal-proof.

And another thing we've found helpful...When we go door-to-door witnessing, we always go in two-person teams, a man and a woman, usually hubby and wife. 'Nuff said...

 

I don't "run" in circles, it tends to be a distinct spiraling downwards, if you get the drift.

Run a background check on the members, whether they hold a position or not. Discipline those who refuse to give ample evidence of true repentence; hang them on main street!

 

I know of a case. That church is now struggling with deciding if the repentant former pastor, after getting out of prison, should return to the congregation as a member.

 

Sure, he should return as a member only. BUT, let me be clear. If he was charged with pedaphilia then he will be escorted and get to sit with an assigned man (typically a deacon) while in church.

Depending on WHAT he was charged with is how you handle his physical presence in the building. If it was fraud, you don't let him pass offering plates. Its all common-sense.

The key word here is "repentant". Paul killed Christians and became the missionary to the Gentile world. You can't get much meaner than that.

If a person pretends to be innocent they will make all kinds of excuses about how they were "set up" or they "really didn't do anything that bad". Watch for that because a person can say he is repentent and his actions can show that he is not.

Let me also give a profile of a typical child molester. He will be the VERY LAST PERSON that you would think would do something like that. He will speak against pedophelia when given the chance. 9 times out of 10 he will be VERY articulate. (This is not your typical mental case pedaphile that is obviously off his rocker.)

Also, he will make certain that HE becomes the victim, if and when he is caught. He WILL get people to feel sorry for his horrible plight. Just ask Robycop, I bet he will tell you pretty much the same thing. Although from a different perspective. I have worked them from undercover and they certainly know how to work the system.

I left a church because they put an unrepentent pedaphile in charge of the television ministry on the day he got out of prison.

In most cases, the pedaphile will be someone you know and you LEAST expect to do such a crime.

 

What resource would a church use to run a background check on their workers?

Andy

 

Hey, if the prospective member is named "Dave Hyles", this may not be such a bad idea!

Of course, in his case, his last name trumped his legacy of egregious behaviour in at least 2 churches even after his unrepentant pattern of behaviour became widely known.

 

Even if he were repentant, is it prudent to put him in a church role? Not likely. Sometimes repentance means that we will have to live with the consequences for our entire lives. A convicted felon, though he repents, still doesn't get to own a gun. A convicted drunk driver, though he repents, may not get be able to drive again in some areas. A pastor caught in adultery, though he repents, may be stripped of his pastorate.


In most cases, the pedaphile will be someone you know and you LEAST expect to do such a crime. [/QB][/QUOTE]

 

Andy, here's one example:


http://www.churchstaffing.com/html/miscellaneous/background_checks.shtml