“So much like the moon, we show the world only one and veil our many faces…even from the sun.” ―
The following relates to a story of sexual assault by a PCA pastor, which I plan to post on Friday. As the reader will note, some local PCA churches have little regard, or perhaps they have profound naivete, for the effects of abuse on victims. “Knowing” someone for a long time does not mean that one knows the insides of a person adept at hiding issues such as sexual abuse. As I have pondered the story I plan to write, I decided first to present the PCA’s rejection of specific measures of dealing with sexual abuse as a denomination.
As we all know, pedophiles and abusers go to places that attract their preferred victims. In my former SBC church, that now-convicted molester enjoyed sexually abusing teenage boys and began grooming them when they were 11-12. In the SBC churches, everyone loved this SEBTS seminary student who could spout the theology of the SBC while showing his “love and concern” for these boys. Girls were left out of the mix, and no one seemed to care since this guy was the “real deal.” Many would say they “knew” this seminary student and “knew his parents. He was from the “right” sort of SBC family, except he was a hidden monster. My former church ignored the warning signals, brushing off disgusting behavior as “locker room humor.” The abuse of those young teens is amongst the worst I have heard in my 14 years of blogging.
Unfortunately, the PCA has chosen to believe it is handling things “just fine’ and specific safeguards aren’t necessary for this authoritative hierarchy of men in which no woman is involved. God gave them the gift, and they are proving, once again, that men need the input of intelligent women.
As you read this, remember that a real-life example is coming on Friday, Lord willing.
The PCA, sexual abuse, and women: Like the SBC, they’re not listening.
Christianity Today posted The Presbyterian Church in America Has an Abuse Crisis Too by Emily Belz. It was subtitled, “Women thought the PCA, with its robust system of governance, might provide some accountability. They found that was not the case.”
Many thought that a denomination that has a robust hierarchy would be an example of how to handle complaints of abuse. Sadly, this is not the case. I would imagine TWW readers are not surprised.
The denomination meets for its annual general assembly this week and is marking its 50th anniversary. Over those decades, it has not experienced the reckoning with abuse that has occurred in the Southern Baptist Convention or the Catholic Church.
But, that hierarchy is confusing since it is not “top down.” Some of those local groups are not survivor friendly.
The PCA is not a denomination with top-down governance but rather a collection of local churches that form regional presbyteries that govern those churches under the BCO laws. How well an abuse case is handled depends on the presbytery.
Many presbyteries have put survivors through a procedural grinder that survivors say was worse than the abuse itself. Multiple cases CT reviewed that went through the church court process had thousands of pages of documentation, and sometimes stretched out for years. Laypeople were bewildered trying to file formal charges based on the BCO.
This male-only hierarchy appeared to be slow in reaching a conclusion in which, no surprise, the pastor was exonerated.
The PCA’s church court process stretched on for nearly four years after the women brought their complaints about the pastor. The trial transcript for the hearing in the case ran for 1,966 pages.
The meeting described in the following has now occurred. Why don’t you guess what happened?
Max and Jeffrey, stop laughing…
At its denominational meeting in Memphis this week, PCA elders will consider a significant number of overtures (church legislation) related to abuse. Among them are two different proposals allowing anyone to be a witness in church courts for abuse cases—currently only those who believe in God, heaven, and hell are allowed to be witnesses. Another overture would require criminal background checksfor new ministers and ministers transferring presbyteries or denominations.
Ordained male elders vote at the PCA meeting, while SBC messengers can be men and women.
Unfortunately, survivors are discovering that there is nothing much to help them.
The BCO is a thick document for governing a church, but “it doesn’t have anything in it to help us adjudicate any abuse cases or reports,” said Ann Maree Goudzwaard, who leads a church-based ministry in the PCA called Help[H]er for women in crisis. She has become a point person for women reporting abuse in the denomination, which is not a role she sought out. She receives daily calls from abuse survivors.
The PCA started showing interest a year ago, but few churches have been trained in sex abuse.
Last year, a denominational committee made up mostly of PCA elders as well as outside experts like Goudzwaard and Rachael Denhollander released a 220-page report with recommendations for how churches should handle domestic abuse and sexual assault (known as the DASA report). It was designed to be a resource for the PCA’s local church leaders. In the absence of a denominational reporting mechanism for abuse, victims have contacted the committee, which was not designed for that purpose.
The report, not surprisingly, was “non-binding,” which means local churches can blow it off. And it appears that many did.
Important: A case of sexual abuse being mislabeled “sexual” sin.
This relates to my anticipated post.
Kristen Hann, the former director of women’s ministry at Surfside Presbyterian Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, lost her job last year after objecting to how the church handled an abuse case.
In 2021, Kappie Reynolds, a member at Surfside, reported that an elder groped her under her clothes, exposed himself to her, pulled her pants down, and attempted anal penetration. Reynolds requested that the elder’s name not be used in this story, as the case is still being litigated confidentially through the church court process.
The elders aren’t talking.
Surfside’s church leadership declined to comment on the case, saying “it would be unwise and reckless for us to discuss church discipline, member care, or employment matters in a public forum.”
…The accused elder, a lay leader and not on staff, was quietly stripped of his ordination in the PCA (something the session, a group of governing elders of a church, has the power to do) and asked to attend another church. But church leadership did not communicate the reasons to the congregation.
It’s only a “sexually deviant sin,” not sexual assault, which has legal implications. Wait-is that why they “couch” their theological terminology?
In the fallout of Hann’s firing, the pastor finally held a meeting with the congregation and took questions about the elder who had been stripped of his office, saying he had confessed to “sexually deviant sin,” according to Hann’s husband, Aaron, who took notes on the meeting.
Why is this important? Sin is something that can be forgiven and forgotten. This shows a profound naivete on the part of the leaders at that church. Any man who does something like this to a woman is guilty of sexual assault, which could be a crime and should be reported by the church to the police. To imagine a quick “I’ve repented” and all is well is stupid. Such a man is dangerous and had most likely acted in such a manner in the past and will most likely do so in the future. It seems like Hann agrees.
The leadership never described it as an assault. Peterson, the pastor, told the congregation that Hann and church leadership had an untenable working relationship because of the tensions around the handling of the case of “sexual sin.” They did not commission a third-party investigation, which Hann thought could have turned up more wrongdoing by the elder as well as addressed the pastor’s handling of the case.
So what did the PCA decide? I know you are not holding your collective breaths.
Mark Wingfield, writing for Baptist News Global, posted Conservative Presbyterians reject four proposals to curb sexual abuse.
Let’s start with the inevitable women can’t be pastors as well as…
This differs from the SBC since some churches like JD Greear’s allow women to be deacons. Many other churches do not.
(They affirmed) a proposal to ensure women cannot be given the title “pastor,” “deacon” or “elder” in any PCA church.
They claim that the “peace and purity” of the church are upset:
by churches attributing offices to candidates not qualified for said office.
Given what I’ve been learning about sexual abuse in the PCA, it should seem that “peace and purity” have been violated by men who cover up and downplay sexual abuse in their midst. I will remember this when I write about the supposedly peaceful and pure PCA. Egads! That was a stupid statement.
They “rejected mandatory background checks for clergy as they are ordained or transferred to new posts.”
Why is it so difficult to do a background check before ordination or going to new posts? I know how easy it is. My church does background checks on anyone who signs up to help at events like “Night to Shine.” It’s cheap and easy to accomplish. There is only one reason I can see why not to do such a check. They are afraid of what it will uncover. Most abusers are not in the database of background checks because they have never been caught. So, is the PCA hiding some information from public view? Hmmm, maybe it’s time to do a little background checking of our own…
They rejected “one would have improved communication between PCA leadership on abuse reports.”
So, nothing said, nothing done… They don’t have to speak about it to anyone else outside of their designated circle. Shhhhh
They rejected two proposals that “would have expanded eligibility of witnesses in church court cases.”
Get this.
Currently, witnesses must “believe in God, heaven and hell.”
I bet the boys love this one. So, if they have a sexual assault case involving a “peaceful and pure” PCA pastor beating on his wife, which was observed by a local heathen, the honest heathen can’t testify to what he observed. So the pastor/abuser, who believes in heaven, hell, and God, gets exonerated because it is falsely assumed that he is telling the truth. The local good ol boy heathen is incapable of telling the truth and bearing witness according to their rules. Yet God causes the sun to shine on everyone; even the local heathens can tell the truth, and the believer in God heaven and hell can lie through his teeth. What are they teaching in those seminaries?
I am not the only one who is infuriated by all of this.
High-profile sex abuse prosecutor Boz Tchividjian tweeted his disgust at the rejections.
“The PCA recently REJECTED four overtures that focused on protecting sexual abuse victims. … Yet more reasons why I am no longer part of the PCA.”
Mark Wingfield observed:
The PCA shares much in common with the modern-day SBC, which has a strong Calvinist faction and also is driven by complementarian theology that sees a “created order” or hierarchy with men at the top.
I would wager to bet that the PCA has many stories of sexual abuse and assault by their supposedly “pure and peaceful” pastors, elders, and deacons. It appears that, for now, the men in charge want to have the flexibility to cover things up. I suggest that some PCA types should begin their own background checks of pastors. I think someone is hiding something.
Stay tuned for another PCA story on Friday.
“except he was a hidden monster”
An org is only as good, as safe, as its most evil hidden monster.
“an elder groped her under her clothes, exposed himself to her, pulled her pants down, and attempted anal penetration”
This elder has made his members a public danger to others with criminal behavior violating an unsuspecting person in their organization. He crossed a line. He is dangerous. He has assaulted civilized society, the innocence and goodness of humanity to live in trust and collaboration.
What a person does with their private parts is no longer private when that person breaks the law, commits a crime.
Expose the criminal. Save civilized society from the barbarian, the criminal. This is not normal, not in church, not anywhere.
What the org does about this criminal makes itself either a haven and hunting ground for predators OR it makes itself a safe place for the civilized and respectful. Choose you this day whom you shall serve, it is said. Serve the criminal or serve the civilized.
What this guy did was not civilized behavior. The civilized will draw a line, build a wall, and establish a boundary that prohibits and evicts criminals. That’s what Jesus did.
“an elder groped her under her clothes, exposed himself to her, pulled her pants down, and attempted [r*pe]” – what kind of r*pe, is in the post.
What on earth is going on here? Where does this elder get off?
Report the elder to Law Enforcement. LE will work with the DOJ regarding a criminal offense. Done deal.
Regarding the org:
When, for the love of God, did this become NOT a criminal offense? Is it normal? No. Is it legal? No. Is it civilized? No. Is it a private affair between a guy and a woman? No, the guy publicly violated the woman in the public arena of their church org. She NEVER signed up for this – hello!
As soon as the church decides to cover for criminals, the church becomes criminal and a haven for criminals.
In this culture, this current state of affairs in our society, beware of participating in church. Churches, apparently, cover for criminals that do all kinds of illegal behaviors with their supposedly – what should be – private members. Obviously, the way they (church predators) inflict their members on unsuspecting nonconsenting nonparticipating others going about their normal daily tasks, they (church predators) don’t consider their members private. Apparently LE has to deal with them and their wandering projectile members publicly via the DOJ.
Is church a toxic social soup for grown men who are supposed to know better, to test their manhood on unsuspecting others? And then the rest of us just put up with this miscreant sick behavior? Where are the social norms, the social mōrēs of how to behave with others, and keep your privates private? Going after another’s privates (could be a child, a girl, a boy, a teen, or a woman, it seems), and then pulling out his own private member to insert in another person, is NOT keeping one’s privates private.
Bottom line, all of this behavior is criminal, harmful, and dangerous. If one can’t keep this criminal out of the church, then vacate the church, and fast. It’s a feature, not a bug. It may seem accidental, or a flaw or slip-up, but in reality it is intentional.
Jesus and the Body of Christ have NOTHING to do with this.
“If it’s legitimate r*pe, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down,”
— Todd Akin, CHRISTIAN Congressman, 2012
Some quotes from his 2021 obituary in the Washington Post:
“He was a devout Christian, a great father, and a friend to many,” Perry Akin told the AP. “We cherish many fond memories from him driving the tractor at our annual hayride, to his riveting delivery of the freedom story at 4th of July parties dressed in the full uniform of a colonial minuteman. The family is thankful for his legacy: a man with a servant’s heart who stood for truth.”
— death announcement from his son
He served on the board of the Mission Gate Prison Ministry and was involved with the Boy Scouts of America and the antiabortion group Missouri Right to Life.
— ending statement from WaPo in the obit
Amen, Boz. That’s one reason (among many)that I will never seek reordination or church membership in the PCA again.
I’ve gotten to the point now that if (God forbid) someone was inappropriate with me in a church setting I would immediately write about it for myself, share it with an elder, and then call 911. I no longer trust church hierarchy to “do the right thing.” If sexual attacks are unacceptable in the workplace or elsewhere. why is it tolerated in churches?
Years ago I was dating a Presbyterian minister, and we talked seriously about marriage. Then he was called to a church hundreds of miles away and asked me to go with him. I thought he meant marriage. Wrong. He wanted me to quit my job at the time, get an apartment near his new church, then start a physical relationship until he could decide whether or not to get married. I walked out of the restaurant and took a cab home. Later he accused me of being intolerant and too strait-laced. Haven’t been back to a Presbyterian church since.
Clearly, another church-embedded wolf in clergy costume with clergy title, rank, salary, & public persona. Evil. Regarding the guy’s suggestions with his move, when this pastor would take his lunch breaks at your place, or spend his afterhours there, would he then introduce you to his congregation? Probably not. A pastor with a mistress living a duplicitous life. Nothing new or fantastic about that.
Thank God the wolf was called to a church hundreds of miles away and you got to see his true colors, his true intentions. Some people live their lives between their legs – nothing more. It’s really that simple. They play their parish like feral dogs that roam their hood looking for their next object.
If this sounds gross, it is. It is also totally inappropriate. Why is the church putting up with and paying for this grotesque and sometimes even criminal behavior? That’s the real question.
The fact that you state your story was “years ago” reminds us that this is nothing new. The only thing new is the internet where there are no gatekeepers to shut up those who know the truth about the wolves in clergy attire.
PCA:
“The Presbyterian Church in America is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church, and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presbyterian in government.” – Wikipedia
Bullet dodged.
From the OP – “Currently, witnesses must ‘believe in God, heaven and hell.’ I bet the boys love this one. So, if they have a sexual assault case involving a ‘peaceful and pure’ PCA pastor beating on his wife, which was observed by a local heathen, the honest heathen can’t testify to what he observed.”
If he’s beating on his wife, he must not believe in God and hell all that strongly.
. It appears that, for now, the men in charge want to have the flexibility to cover things up.
Just like the SBC….. until the Houston Chronicle report blew the SBC wide open.
Women, youth, and children just don’t matter at all to the god these men worship.
Whitewashed tombs.
Men who worship men. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s all about them. Love your neighbor who is like yourself, as yourself. Full stop.
> I bet the boys love this one. So, if they have a sexual assault case involving a “peaceful and pure” PCA pastor beating on his wife, which was observed by a local heathen, the honest heathen can’t testify to what he observed
I think it has potential to get worse than this. In PCA churches, the elders have “authority to bind”, basically meaning they can have final say in whether or not a person believes in God. So if there’s a potential witness, they could arbitrarily say that the witness is not a believer and therefore can’t testify.
Even worse, with these perverts haunting the halls of our churches, their god is their projectile. Somehow, they got their wires crossed. Their behavior demonstrates they come to church to inflict their what-should-be-private-and-personal projectile intended for a personal life partner in private, on unsuspecting children, boys, girls, teens, and women.
Yes, worshipping our Creator, the God of the universe, can be a very intimate touching private and personal experience for the seeker of our Heavenly Father. We can even share this incredible God worship with others, as we are partners in the Kingdom of God, the Body of Christ.
But seeking our Heavenly Father and discipleship in the Body of Christ has NOTHING to do with a church leader’s private projectile.
The fact that the projectile-god perverts corner and entrap subordinates (children, girls, boys, teens, and women) demonstrates they are in no way seeking partnership in covenant and dignity appropriately and singularly with a fellow human being. They are seeking a person to turn into an object for their projectile-god, to serve their projectile-god. (That Duggar dad passed this on to his son, who is now a projectile-god worshipper that covertly seeks subordinates like a laser-guided missile – as young as infants – to serve his projectile, his god. He completely acted this out, which is why he is in prison.)
Therefore, it behooves civilized church folks to get the projectile-god perverts OUT of operation in their church communities.
Savage, of the last post, and this PCA elder dude are clearly projectile-god guys. With Savage’s latest CrossFit blather in his Sunday pulpit sermon (completely inappropriate), he is still the totally body-centered self-serving body-dude-guy he was back as a Youth Pastor. Nothing has changed. He is a body-god-guy.
Jesus never drew attention to his body, nor to anyone else’s body. As a man, he never cornered anyone and inflicted his projectile on them. Jesus’ focus was the heart – our will, our drive to our higher purpose of loving God and our neighbor as ourselves.
As soon as we use the word heart, the projectile-god perverts sense a connection with their projectile since that is their god, that is where their heart is. With Jesus, there is no bait to intimacy with God that shifts to the Dark Side of intimacy with a projectile – no wires crossed to the chaos of entrapment of a vulnerable person seeking their Creator, to then serve a projectile-god-dude.
With Jesus, our hearts can seek and find our Creator God, safely, intimately, no wires crossed, no betrayal, no cross-purposes. Through Jesus, we are right with God, restored with God, safe with our God, even on a very personal level. Intimacy with God means sharing our deepest selves with our very Creator (which is in NO way has anything to do with any guy and his projectile).
This projectile-god and body-god focus is so antithetically opposed to the Kingdom of God that it should be recognized as pagan and evil from the get-go. Obviously, it is not apparent, since that Savage dude can go on and on about his body in his sermon, and no one blinks an eye. That’s how jaded we are as a public today.
In the Kingdom of God, we include those born with defects, those struggling with chronic and fatal illnesses through no fault of their own, and those with accidental disabilities like Joni Eareckson Tada. There is no room to blather about the body. We thank God for what works while seeking God for using our abilities and what works, for His highest purpose: loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
God has been Weaponized for a LONG time.
Like the familiar spirit of a Conjure-man or Hexen in Appalachian and Pennsylvania Dutch lore, a supernatural force the Witch-man controls and uses as his Enforcer. Usually to extort money and goods out of others or get whatever the Hexen wants (often sexual).
During my days in-country in the Dispensation of Hal Lindsay, I was on the receiving end of Weaponized Turbo-Jesus. The damage is still there.
And now we know why the Bible says judgment will begin in the house of God.
Some churches now check out visitors by doing an internet search and a background check. If they don’t like what they see you post online, they will flat out freeze you out.
For those that insist on being in a brick and mortar church, before you ever set foot inside check out the services. Listen to a bunch of sermons without checking your brain at the door or being pumped up by the music and fog machines, etc. Do internet searches and background checks on the entire staff. Only if they pass all these smell tests, with fear and trepidation and your kids never out of your sight enter the door. And give nada for at least 6 months while you continue to evaluate.
Get a DNA swab test IMMEDIATELY!.
They hold up in court like a blazing mini-gun in favor of the victim.
Go after the bastards to the full extent of the law.
“… church courts for abuse cases …”
Victim: don’t call the pastor, don’t go to church court … CALL 911. Sexual abuse is a crime! Don’t let a church or denomination judge the matter and decide the fate of an abuser, turn it over to the criminal justice system.
“… the case is still being litigated confidentially through the church court process …”
I repeat. Churches and their courts should not be handling sex abuse cases. These are crimes in America that should be tried outside of church systems.
My understanding is that if a charge is made against a minister, the matter is investigated not by his own church but by the presbytery – the next rung up – and if they refuse to act two other presbyteries can refer the matter to the highest court – the General Assembly -which must then hear the complaint. Also, while the PCA Rules of Discipline state that a “competent witness” is one who believes in God etc, all witnesses present their evidence and can be challenged. The court will decide on the credibility of the evidence provided. It’s interesting to note that the PCA make clear that no minister should be “screened or slightly censured” simply because of his position.
“witnesses must “believe in God, heaven and hell””
Uhhh, an unbeliever is capable of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In fact, we’ve all learned through various TWW posts that you can’t trust some church leaders to do that! God, heaven and hell would have a lot to say about some of them!
I think it has potential to get worse than this. In PCA churches, the elders have “authority to bind”,
Alexandra A,
Seems to me that PCA governance was created and set up to empower, enable, and protect men….. every time, all of the time, no matter what.
“The PCA shares much in common with the modern-day SBC, which has a strong Calvinist faction and also is driven by complementarian theology that sees a “created order” or hierarchy with men at the top.”
Which means the good ole boys and the Inner Ring will stand by their dudebros until the potato becomes too hot to handle. The beauty of complementarity is an ugly thing. Created order didn’t have this in mind, IMHO. Church hierarchies can become anarchies which reject the authority of Jesus. In SBC, it’s almost become “Jesus who?”
““pure and peaceful” pastors, elders, and deacons”
“There are none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10).
The SBC, with its New Calvinist takeover, has knocked them off that throne in recent years! But the strange thing is … millions of non-Calvinist Southern Baptists haven’t realized that yet. It’s the darnedest thing I’ve ever seen!
The beauty of complementarity is an ugly thing.
Okay. This is as far as I got before I screamed!!!
“Another overture would require criminal background checks for new ministers and ministers transferring presbyteries or denominations.
Ordained male elders vote at the PCA meeting,”
These imbeciles aren’t even doing background checks on ministers??? What about background checks on other leaders??? People working with children???
I’m just losing it here . . .
Maybe there is an explanation if I finish reading the article . . .
Nope. Just plain stupidity and not caring that they may put men in authority (not that I condone this authority) that may use this authority to prey on others.
That “no background checks” thing got me too. How stupid can they be?! Seriously! A background check should be job number 1 for any employment. What is wrong with these so called leaders? Why aren’t people running from this nonsense and taking themselves and their money else where?!
Bridget,
I suspect not doing background checks is more common than it should be.
When I volunteered as an admin assistant for an A29 church, discovered that they were over a year behind in background checks for kids ministry volunteers. I made sure they caught up REAL fast. Turns out, they’d also never done a background check on at least one of the pastors. After my family had left, he did something underhanded (I know no details, but am naturally dying to know) and was kicked out.
More recently, my daughter was at a PCA preschool that was short staffed. I offered to help out on a temp basis, and when they realized I don’t have the minimum education requirements, still wanted to hire me but skip the background check (since that would trigger the licensing agency to ask for my transcript). I put the kibosh on that, but it was really concerning that they even entertained the idea.
I shudder to think of the thousands of preacher-boys who have been in the ministry for decades, before the days of background checks. What is lurking in their past (at least some of them). Of course, a background check wouldn’t reveal the cover and protection they may have received from ministry buds along the way.
Sarah and Ava, thanks, yes, I dodged a bullet. I think I’ve said it before, my dad instilled a deep cynicism in me which has enabled me to dodge more than a few bullets, and I’m grateful now more than ever.
As for background checks, I’m all for them, especially if there are records from years ago. Nevertheless, in the majority of cases if there’s no police record, a background check won’t reveal anything. As for the individual I dated, I think he still remained in ministry, and moved up within the hierarchy. A background check would never revealed his issues.
My theory is that narcissistic, authoritarian pastors spend so much time presenting themselves as near-omniscient arbiters of truth that they can’t allow that facade to be cracked by admitting to the presence of sexual predators in their churches, sexual predators that they didn’t identify!
From all the reading on sexual predators I have done (including Dr. Anna Salter’s book “Predators”), even the experts admit that predators are so good at grooming and manipulating people, and pretending to be non-predators, the experts can’t even identify them!
The truth is, wolves will slip in. Salter has some great insights into how to begin to identify red flags but even she admits these can go unnoticed.
If these PCA pastors could just admit they’re not near-omniscient supermen, they could humble themselves, admit they can be tricked by the wolves too (just like everyone else) and then do everything they can to stop the current wolves and learn how best to prevent abuse.
But pride throws a wrench in all of it.
What does PCA stand for? Principally Child Abuse?
Background checks are the lowest hanging fruit in safeguarding and if they’re not even doing that a convicted abuser could become a minister.
As for not accepting unbelievers as witnesses, ‘Paul’ actually gives a good reputation among outsiders as a requirement for overseers in 1 Timothy 3. Didn’t they notice that.
No. They only seem to notice what fits into their small, bigoted paradigm.
Having slept on this I don’t think I put that strongly enough.
A church where it is now publicly known that they don’t do background checks is an open invitation to paedophiles. They’ve made themselves the denomination of choice for anyone with previous convictions who wants access to children and might as well have an advertisement outside every church saying this.
Yes, it becomes the church billboard and invitation: no background checks, target rich, hunting ground, pedos welcome, bring your children & teens, we’ll feed them to the wolves.
Furthermore, for the churches that applaud and hire the “restored” pedos, add to that billboard: We are pedo-led or IOW a pedo sanctuary; bring your kiddos & teens so we can feed our wolf leader with fresh meat.
So, which denoms qualify? PSA: make a list, for the pedos looking for a home base with fresh catch, and for the families that want to keep the young ones safe by running the other direction fast and far.
This goes beyond the Houston Chronicle’s Abuse of Faith database of public record with individual cases of predators. Just list the denoms to cover all the bases, all of the possibilities. The denoms set the expectation, set the standard: is the denom predator friendly and predator rich? Or is the denom predator non-friendly and predator-free? The question.
The narcissistic authoritarian leader does not work well with others, does not listen to others (including those who witness a predator), and doesn’t give a hoot about others (especially those who witness a predator with first hand intel that the org needs but doesn’t come from that lame leader). Dealing with predators among the flock is not in the the narcissist’s game plan.
Love your neighbor as yourself, like Jesus, is antithetical to a narcissistic authoritarian leader. First red flag: get rid of all the leaders and influencers who refuse to work with women on level ground. TheoDudeBros, etc. Second red flag: get rid of all the leaders and influencers who pretend to work with women only to make them sex objects like Hybels, which is another TheoDudeBro tactic.
THIS !
Here’s a review of denominations:
https://youtu.be/tzLS4O7YaUg
What he doesn’t mention is how each denomination deals with predators. That would be taking this info-video (which is very good) to the next level (even better).
I first noticed this in a ‘way’ a long time ago when I went to find out about my grandmother of blessed memory’s faith. I asked a well-known SBC pastor about the meaning of his use of the word ‘gospel’ and how it compared to the four Holy Gospels of Our Lord in the NT.
He told me: ‘you should know’ and ‘you are being ingenious’ . . .
I remember at the time thinking, he doesn’t understand what I was asking OR
‘maybe he didn’t know’, that ‘gospel’ was just some kind of ‘in crowd’ phrase.
I chose to believe he didn’t understand me. I assumed responsibility for annoying him. I guess I didn’t know ‘how to ask’. It’s hard to see how a word like ‘gospel’ can mean so many different things among Christian people, but there it was. (?)
I still don’t know what his meaning was. (?)
What an omission.
But they have a Good Reputation among their other Anointed TheoDudeBros, and that’s what’s important.
“HE SCOOOOOOOORED! HEH-HUH! HEH-hUH! HEH-hUH!”
— Beavis & Butthead
Not to the wife-beading PCA Pastor.
To him, it IS a Thing of Beauty, Predestined by GOD Himself.
As I’ve opined before, sooner or later (hopefully sooner) there’s gonna’ be a landmark case in which the imbeciles get charged with complicity when one of their underlings gets jailed for child sex abuse, because they knew about it and didn’t report it to law enforcement from-the-get-go .
The NeoCal’s toss “gospel” around like they do “grace” … Gospel-centered this and that, where Gospel = Calvinism. They seem to miss the point that the Gospel IS Jesus, not a theology.
Alexandra A,
Yipes! They believe they can decide if someone believes in God. Do they think they are God Jr.?
Bets laugh of the day! Thank you.
On Twitter, I offered that Todd and I would do those background checks for a nominal fee. It’s ridiculously easy. Todd is an expert.
I noticed this when I was a backward 17 year old. We ought to pray that christians won’t be meaningless on illa die tremenda.
Don’t worry though, they take the sexual sin and deviance of being celibate gay VERY SERIOUSLY because it’s important that we crack down on sexual sin in leadership. *eye roll*
We went through a very difficult time with a church regarding another one of the members who committed a crime. It made national new when he got off. (Church leadership kept telling us this case was not accurately being portrayed by the media. It was not that bad etc.). (we left. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a23401877/justin-schneider-alaska-assault/
“In a criminal complaint filed by an Anchorage police officer, the survivor said she thought she was going to die, and that Schneider told her ‘he wasn’t really going to kill her, that he needed her to believe she was going to die so that he could be sexually fulfilled.'”
“The woman reported the assault and gave Schneider’s license plate number. According to court records, he was promptly arrested and charged with one count of felony kidnapping, three counts of assault, and one misdemeanor charge of ‘offensive contact with fluids.'”
LE took this seriously, but the Courts, the DOJ, the Judge, gave the “gentleman” a pass. And from your story, the church gave him a pass.
Comment from the journalist, reflecting on the righteous anger of citizens over the DOJ debacle: “typically unspoken privileges afforded to white men who assault women”.
Another golden boy monster man gets off without consequences after kidnap, sexual assault, and what could have been murder. When the next time occurs, it is clearly on the judge (and the golden boy monster man’s supportive churchmen, apparently.)
Yes, leave the “church”, which is evidently just a boys will be boys club.
Common Sense for how to do Brick & Mortar Church safely and wisely.
All too common experience: The Bait-and-Switch of seeking God in a Brick and Mortar Church but ending up with a god-pastor who 1. Supports himself and lesser-male-gods who all believe and practice that their projectile is a holy object to be worshipped, and who 2. Expects the pew sitters to dump their earned wages into the offering plate to build the pastor-god’s empire dynasty.
All of this as practice pleasing to our Heavenly Father? No way. 1. Jesus and his disciples NEVER blitzed unsuspecting, inexperienced, uninformed women or teengirls with their projectiles like pastors/youth pastors/elders reportedly routinely do in church communities today. 2. Jesus collected not one shekel. His disciples only collected to share with no-fault-of-their-own suffering families and widows. No one built anything from workers’ wages. Not one brick.
With a Gospel According to Dire Straits:
“MONEY FOR NUTHIN, AND THE CHICKS FOR FREE!”
i.e. “ALL FAKE NEWS!!!! FROM THE WOKE LIBRUL PROPAGANDA MACHINE!!!!!!!”
In one rod: YES.
What would God ever do without them whispering in His ear (like Grima Womtongue) about Who Is REALLY Saved and (more important) Who Is Not?
“ME SHEEP! HIM GOAT! HIM GOAT! HIM GOAT! HIM GOAT! HIM GOAT!”
The Church is Christ’s precious bride. He loved her to death on Calvary.9 It’s no surprise, then, that in His Word are revealed remarkably high standards for those ordained officers who would instruct, serve, and shepherd the church in His name. Those standards or qualifications are set forth in I Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9. Elders, for example, are called to be “above reproach” [unimpeachable in character] and “dignified” [worthy of respect]. Later Paul exhorts Timothy — and all subsequent ordained officers — to flee sinful desires and ruinous behavior, and to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (I Tim. 6:3-11). He is charged to “train [himself] for godliness” (4:7).
The focus on qualifications for elders in Scripture is not primarily centered on competence, gifts, personality, or intellect. It’s centered on character. It’s focused on holiness. It’s concentrated upon integrity and sincere piety.
This might lead us to ask if our presbyteries, in general, place this level of emphasis upon godly piety and personal holiness in the examination of candidates for ordination. How much actual time is spent with candidates exploring important aspects of their personal piety compared to inquiry about their theological knowledge and perspectives on controversial matters facing the PCA?
“I’ve been serving on PCA credentials committees for almost twenty years, and I must confess that time spent examining a candidate’s piety has often been brief and insufficient. To be clear, I’m not saying that equal time be given to soundness of doctrine and soundness of life—just more time. Maybe I’m wrong, but there seems to be, at times, a growing sense that we shouldn’t press a man too hard on his home life, marriage, and the nature and practice of his personal godliness, lest we are perceived as being heavy-handed, pharisaical, or unnecessarily intrusive. The result is that this portion of the exam is carried out in a hasty fashion, and men who are not above reproach and pursuing personal holiness are approved for ordination.” (Jon Payne, 16 Dec 2021 see https://byfaithonline.com/recommending-overtures-23-and-37/ for context, but it is applicable here)
Lowlandseer,
Quotation marks should start at the top and end at the end.
Sums it up.
Another peek into Godly(TM) Sexual Appetites.
In this case, LARPing a Serial Sex Killer?
(An FBI rpfiler would have a field day with this guy. A lot of serial killers prefer hands-on strangulation, as it is VERY Up Close and Personal. And that sort of stuff always keeps escalating — Addiction/Tolerance response, where the perp needs bigger and stronger doses to maintain the same high/thrill.)
And like most of them, the first time I heard of that outside of actual Pr0n, where it’s called “Asphyx”. And was a recent TikTok Challenge under the name “Blackout Challenge”.
His PRECIOUS Bodily Fluids?
(CONFIRMED – clicked on the link.)
And the guy walked.
Next time he’ll make sure she CAN’T tell on him, if you get my drift.
As FBI Profilers say, it’s an ever-escalating behavior to keep up the thrill, like a Cenobite in the Hellraiser movies.