GA- Sex offenders, as well as victims, need love of church to rehabilitate

11-12-2008 Georgia:

As a Christian, I believe firmly in the power of redemption. My life and my faith are enriched through service to my church community, particularly in reaching out to the marginalized and the oppressed.

I was deeply concerned to read a recent Atlanta-Journal Constitution editorial about a Georgia law that has barred people on the sex offender registry from participating in their church communities (“Sex offender statute becomes tormentor: Family’s ordeal shows how Ga. law goes way too far,” @issue, Oct. 31). I believe this law — which is being challenged today in U.S. District Court in Atlanta — runs counter to the church’s mission of sharing God’s love and his message of redemption.

I have seen how meaningful participation as a member of a faith community can be a powerful rehabilitative force in the lives of those seeking redemption for past sins. But Georgia’s law severely limits this opportunity for rehabilitation while simultaneously preventing me from ministering to all members of my faith community.

Over 10 years ago, one of our church members was convicted of a sexual offense and now has to register for the rest of his life as a sex offender in Georgia. When he started attending our church, he brought his registration requirements and prior conviction to the attention of our church board.

Our church’s leadership has since been able to monitor this member and his involvement within the church. Together, we have ensured that he complies with his registration requirements. He never volunteers with children, nor is he ever in the presence of children unless other adults are present.

For the last four years, this church member has served in a variety of volunteer capacities, from reading scripture aloud during service, to setting up and taking down sound equipment as needed, to helping prepare meals for the homeless. As a result of the actions of the Georgia General Assembly, he recently had to stop participating in all of these activities.

Earlier this year, the legislature passed a law that prohibits sex offenders from working or volunteering at a church. This law makes it a crime for a person on the sex offender registry to sing in adult choir, help the pastor prepare the elements, participate in Bible study or prepare food for church functions. The consequence of violating the law is 10 to 30 years in prison. Rather than risk such a sentence, our church member has stopped participating in church activities.

As a Christian and a father, I am very concerned about sexual abuse in our community. I do not, however, think that a law that pushes people away from the church is a good solution to this grave problem.

Like many churches, our church has mechanisms to address the issue of sexual abuse within our community. I cannot overstate the importance of the church being responsive to the feelings and needs of existing and potential victims and survivors of sexual assault. At the same time, in order to be a truly welcoming Christian community, the church must embrace every person, even those who have been convicted of sexual assault.

In Acts, we are taught to believe that “God shows no partiality.” We are a community because of our one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whom we are also one body. “We were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free,” we learn in Corinthians. “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you.’ “

In line with this passage, we believe that we must refrain from casting stones, and instead are called to live out Christ’s command in the Gospel of John to love one another.

I believe that the church lives out our community by offering that same love that God offered to us. We are taught to welcome the stranger and, as Matthew writes, “the least of these.” If they can’t come to church and be welcomed, where can they go?

The church must be a place of safety and healing for all. We must implement safety measures for the children of the church and community. We must offer pastoral care, counseling and healing to those who have suffered sexual assault. And we must help to rehabilitate people who have committed crimes.

As a people of faith and conscience, it is imperative that we bear witness to injustice, doing what we can to promote righteous solutions in our church communities and in the state as a whole. This current law is not the answer. Let us find the right one together. ..News Source.. by Charles Ohrenschall who is a member of the Board of Directors (Vestry) of The Church of Jesus Our Shepherd in Norcross.