I believe that a church should do everything it can to allow someone who has repented of sin to worship. I believe that precautions can be taken, accountablity held and forgiveness and understanding offered. However, this is a difficult issue to deal with and a general church agreement has to be reached within each individual church.

I want to point out a few things for consideration:
1) Paul was involved in killing people and yet God choose and used him.

2) The sex offender you know is less dangerous than the one you don’t. People who admit their offense to the church are easier to protect your family from than the ones that are in hiding.

3) There are going to be victims in the church who aren’t going to be comfortable with allowing this and may never be. They need to be respected, understood and they need to be valued. The solution may not be easy but sometimes the decision to not have the abuser be a part of the church needs to be reached.

4) I believe that a lot of churches are places where people hide from sin. When was the last time your pastor admitted to struggling with a specific and unpleasant sin? Often churches are full of people who act like they do nothing and have never done anything wrong. That attitude makes it much easier to have an us/them mentality regarding sin.

5) I say all of this as someone who knowingly allows a sex offender in their house and around their children. It is not an easy decision to reach and act on.

deborah