Should convicted sex offenders be allowed to join a church?

Question

Keep the Catholic jokes to yourself :P I ask because this was a pretty big and hard debate for a church here at home. A sex offender wanted to join thier church. They didn't feel they had a right to turn the man away but they were obviously very afraid to let him anywhere near thier children. What do you think?

Answer 1

Although I do not want to take away religion, I have to say no. If they are child molesters absolutely not. I know it takes away rights, but we have to consider the right of possible victims and victims in general.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Only if they can keep a close eye on him and make sure he is willing to follow certain rules and make sure that he understands that there will be no second chances for him in terms of the safety of the kids. He cannot be allowed anywhere near any children.

I know of one person who is a registered sex offender that is now "reformed" What he understands is that his sickness is like alcoholism. He has to stay away from temptation, and he does realize this and for this reason, he doesn't allow himself in a situation where he can be tempted to do harm to another person. So, can the church walk in love to this man, and more importantly can this man follow strict limits???

That's a difficult question, because we need to forgive one another, and a pedophile is one of the biggest dangers.

But, let me give you some food for thought. With the current laws, did you know that if two teens under age 16 have sex with each other and the police find out, both children are now convicted sex offenders, and it goes on their record??? So, before we judge everyone as sexual predators, we need to look at the situation.

Let me give you some food for thought here. This person came forward and voluntarily disclosed their past, right? To me, knowing that this person had a problem and is repentant and wants to get right with God, they need our compassion and love. But, if we turn this person away, we also invite a secondary issue. There are a lot of predators out there that never have come forward for any type of help, largely because they are afraid of retaliation.

I'd much rather know that a person has a problem, than the flipside. That flipside is that someone IS going to molest my children, but we don't know that person is a problem.

Answer 4

I think it truly depends on the church. A sex offender did join the church my mom attended (not became a full member, but a regular attender) and as part of his release terms could not be around children unsupervised. He began attending bible studies at one of my mom's friends houses and as a result I was no longer able to go (I was still a minor). His exact crime was consensual sex with his minor girlfriend (greater than 3 years age difference), which is a different crime than violent rape of children.

This is one of those things that needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis and where the congregation as a whole needs to know some of the specifics and be allowed to voice their opinion. My experience with churches (I am not a Christian, but did attend regularly for a number of years) is they are a place where people 'let their guard down' more with their 'brothers & sisters'. Parental supervision is pretty lax. Physical contact is common in different churches, so to have an offender praying with a woman at the altar could be...an issue, especially if the woman has no idea that the guy praying with her was convicted of date rape (for an example).

There is no one right answer. There could be sex offenders among their congregation (or yours) right now, but they've never been caught (or convicted) and no one knows. The known danger is less than the unknown one.

Answer 5

The sex offender has just as much of a right to attend a church and be a part of it's membership. The best thing to do would be to keep an eye on them at all times. It might make some people uncomfortable but Jesus never would have turned anybody away nor can any pastors, bishops, reverends, or priests either.

Answer 6

When a person 'joins a church' he is not just 'joining' the local church, but usually the 'larger organization' too. I AM A CATHOLIC, and I can 'tell you' about only the Roman Catholic and the Episcopalian Churches and their 'views' on this subject ... but I can tell you only what they would do if the person 'admitted to them' to being a sexual offender openly. They would 'accept him' as a member of the 'local' church and the 'larger church' but would put 'severe limits' on what he could 'do' and 'not do' in church ... he would not be allowed to 'take communion' until and unless he had talked with the priest and 'proved himself ready to be in communion with the church as a whole' ... he would be 'excommunicated' which means that he could 'go to the services' but could NOT participate in the 'ritual' of Communion (the Eucharist, in the Catholic Church) ... and he would have to 'show the church' that his 'membership' was to 'help him to be a good person' (or her, since some sex offenders are women) ... and that would include going to Mass 'every time it was offered' at least once a day, or twice a week for the Episcopalian Church. He would be 'carefully watched' (and in the Catholic Church, would have an 'assigned seating partner' to stay with him while he was on the Church's property) to be sure that he wasn't 'using the church' to gain 'access' to any children or women or men who he had as previous 'victims' of his crimes. He would NOT BE LECTURED, and the 'watching' would be so subtle that no one would 'notice it' because a church is a place for EVERYONE to go and 'be closer to God.' He would not be allowed to 'teach' any children, of course, nor to 'interact' with them beyond saying Hello at the 'coffee hour' ...
Some 'smaller churches' believe that if a person is 'ready to go to church' they should be 'admitted fully' into the church ... with NO RESTRICTIONS ... but I know of at least one case where it was the 'minister' who was found out to be a 'sexual offender' and a 'pedophile' who had 'sexually abused' children. He was not 'fired' but was allowed to 'resign' but his 'desk was cleaned out' by another member of the church, and he will never be 'hired' as a minister there again.

If a person is not willing to 'admit' to being a 'sex offender' or sexual predator' then he/she may become a member of any church ... and what happens if/when the church finds out is up to that church's 'elders' (or deacons, and priests or ministers) ...

When my husband and I went to the Cathedral, we knew that there were probably 'sexual offenders' or 'sexual predators' who went to church, and even who took communion regularly. Now we belong to a much 'smaller church' but we really 'don't know' that much about anyone who goes to that church regularly, or if they 'join' or 'don't join, but just attend services' there. Both my husband and I are very 'against sexual predators' ... but we 'drop that' when we go to church, because we know that they may 'be there' and we can only pray that they are 'getting better' and won't commit that 'cardinal sin' again.

Answer 7

Everyone who wants to should be allowed to attend church, but the leadership does have a responsibility to keep its parishioners safe. They would probably not put the person into any kind of leadership role, any situation where they may be alone with a victim of their type. I know that nursery / child care workers already have to have a background check, so they wouldn't be working with kids. If church can offer a chance for healing from their sin, let them come. If you know they are an offender, just be safe and do whatever you can to keep them from having the opportunity o fall into their personal temptation. We can be forgiven and desire to live right, but our flesh is weak and we still must face temptation, and sometimes we fail. A church can offer grace and support, helping someone with their struggles.

Answer 8

I don't think a sex offender should be allowed to join any church. Especially if there are children in churches these days, of course now. If churches today are not going to abide by biblical scripture like in 1Corinthians chapters 5 and 6, then what is the purpose to even obey in what God wants for them? Simply says, (.....not to associate with anyone who is supposedly a brother but who also engages in sexual immorality, is greedy, worships idols, is abusive, gets drunk or steals. With such a person you shouldn't even eat! For what business is it of mine to judge oursiders? Isn't it those who are part of the community that you should be judging? God will judge those who are outside. Just expel the evildoer from among yourselves.)

The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the LORD, and the LORD is for the body.

A sex offender is a criminal. The congregation that I once attended was in that situation and a man became friends with a family who had lots of small children, that he became so close to them, that in the months and years that have gone by, two young boys from that family ended up being sexually abused by this man. He is in prison for what he's done, but at first he was not to attend the congregation.....ended up in prison and now a criminal. Hope this answers your question. We as God's people are to guard and protect the children and if you or any other mother had children, they would do the same for their children too.

Answer 9

Correct on both counts: if the person has "paid" his debt to society and is repentant, why not? Indeed the Church is there to forgive. But then the people are also right in not wanting this person near the children (or at least not alone with the children). So some sort of compromise is in order.

Answer 10

Well although there are obvious concerns for the parents, and i would be concern too, God accepts everyone and no one is better than anyone so I guess they should be allowed in the house of God, but then again when i take my little cousin to church i never leave her alone, not because I dont trust the church or my cousin but because God's house needs respect and if your going to the restroom is to potty not to party. So I go with her to the restroom and when she comes out she takes a sip of water and we go back to sitting down. That rule should apply to all parents but then again that is not the case most of the time.

Answer 11

It's a no brainer. No offense, but I don't see how a true Christian can have any other conclusion. Of course he should be allowed to. There are thousands of sex offenders that never assaulted another human being after they got out. So you have to believe in the stuff you are going to church for in the first place.