Sex Offenders in the Pew
"Sex offenders can change just as an alcoholic or drug addict can change," contends Witherow. He quotes 2 Corinthians 5:17 to support his belief: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
He is on a mission to educate people and undo the hysteria that has built up around sex offenders. While the government's focus is on creating laws to restrict those who have been prosecuted, Witherow says, "When you look at recidivism rates for criminals, sex offenders are the least likely to reoffend." That is true if offenders are part of a thoroughgoing accountability system (more about that below).
Beyond Risk Management
A new national survey reveals that most pastors, church staff, and lay leaders endorse Witherow's goals, but not necessarily all of his methods.
In April 2010, Christianity Today International (CTI) conducted a national survey of 2,864 people, including ordained church leaders (15 percent), church staff (20 percent), lay members (43 percent), and other active Christians (22 percent). Respondents were drawn from the readers of CTI publications and websites. The purpose of the "Sex Offenders in the Church" survey was to explore attitudes and beliefs on whether to allow sex offenders to participate in faith communities. The survey explored what practices churches use to keep their congregations safe when sex offenders are welcomed.
Pastors, lay leaders, and churchgoers overwhelmingly agree that sex offenders who have legally paid for their crime should be welcomed into churches. In fact, 8 in 10 respondents indicated that registered offenders should be allowed to attend church under continuous supervision and subject to appropriate limitations.
Ian Thomsen, church administrator for Arvada Covenant Church in Arvada, Colorado, says, "If we can reach out to sex offenders, and through our efforts change their lives for the better and take a significant risk away from society, we see this as a tremendous challenge—but what a wonderful challenge. We want to take it on."
"Jesus said there's no unforgiveable sin except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit," says Mark Tusken, rector of St. Mark's Church in Geneva, Illinois. "Now that doesn't mean we want to condone sexual crimes. We're not out to hang a shingle that says Sex Offenders Not Welcome any more than we want to hang a shingle that says Come, Y'All. But my prayer has always been that St. Mark's would be a safe place—a place where people can come because they sense the refuge of Christ here.
"That means parents can come without even giving a thought about something happening to their kids, but also that somebody with a sex offense in their past ought to be able to come and fit in and not be judged." In the 16 years that Tusken has overseen his congregation, he has known of only one convicted sex offender attending.
According to the survey results, 2 in 10 respondents said they are aware of a church attendee or member who had been convicted of a sex offense. More than half of the time (55 percent), church leaders learned of the offender when he or she directly informed the pastor. Thirty-four percent of respondents said someone from the congregation, often another leader, tipped them off. This was the case for Tusken.
Grieving with the Good Friday God
La complejidad hispana: Todo cambió en el 2012
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Shelomith Stow
Dan, what you say certainly makes sense although you are taking a great many steps to get there. Yes, Christ meant that one who causes a child to lose faith and embrace unbelief, which is the only unforgivable sin, is himself a sinner. But Dan, we are all, every one of us, every day of our lives, sinners. We can only claim Heaven through repentance and trust in the blood of Jesus which removes our sins. And that grace and forgiveness extends to the child who in turn becomes a molester, to the one that molested him initially, and, praise God, to you and to me. I fully admit I can be wrong as does my pastor; we are human; we sin daily. However, pastors in the Lutheran Church are trained in reading Greek and Hebrew, and the original translation of what Christ said is as I earlier said, whoever causes the child to lose faith in the one true God. That translation does not contradict how you have applied it. I pray for God's peace for you, Dan. We all need it every day. God bless you.
matthew hobbs
This is a very good article with many positives. The recidivism rate of offenders is 5.3% and much less for those who are involved with treatment. Having faith in a power larger than ourselves is important and keeps hope alive. Any one who believes that a sex offense is beyond forgiveness, must not be a very faithful to their own beliefs. Forgiveness and awareness are key.
Janice M
Recidivism rates of sex offenders were actually very low and I gave a wikipedia page that states this. I was giving a counter point to B.A. Atheist's post who claimed the opposite but gave no evidence. It was said in another post that wikipedia isn't 100% reliable, which is true, but this particular wikipedia page quotes government research thus adds to the credibility. I'm also very firm against the opinion that just because someone is a sex offender that such a blanket label means the person should never be allowed around children. Look at Romeo and Juliet cases... I even know someone who bought something on ebay that had child porn on it. He passed all this psychological and polygraph tests that he never meant to get that stuff only to find out that because the law does not consider "knowledge and intent" as a factor, now he has to register for the rest of his life as a "predator." Not the same!