Tennessee Church Leader Welcomes Sex Offenders into Congregation
A Tennessee news station reached out to churches to get their take on a state bill that would require a person required to register as a sexual offender to provide written notice to the Church and obtain written permission before attending services.
We believe this is a horrible requirement and that nobody should be required to shame themselves in order to exercise their religious beliefs. Similarly, no Church should be in a position to have to provide written permission to a parishioner in order for them to attend. That can only expose the church to ostracism and liability.
That notwithstanding, Bishop Kevin Adams, the senior pastor at Olivet Baptist Church in Chattanooga was one of the few willing to speak to Chattanooga’s WRCB News and he was compassionate enough to welcome those on the registry. If anyone would like to contact Olivet: info@obcministries.org
But he is for the bill. I am glad he feels they should be welcomed, but he says “you don’t know who is out there and for someone to come forward and identify themselves, that I am a sexual offender, that gives us an opportunity to hold that person accountable” The few nameless congregation folks say… great, but only if the SO doesn’t come into contact with the congregation. So of course everyone in the church will know who this person is…..yeah that’s helpful. Ugh.
If you listen to the clip, This pastor is 100% in favor of the bill. He wants sex offenders to have to notify him. How does this help us?
When I first moved to Florida I started attending a church…I shall not mention the denomination…and became very involved with some of its programs. Right before the first Christmas that I was in attendance, I wanted to help take down the ‘Walk Through Bethlehem” display when the event came to an end. It was going to be after 10:00 PM so I needed probation’s permission. I requested same. My probation officer went to the church office to verify my proposal. The church did not know I was on the registry. As far as I was concerned they didn’t need to know. Well, my request was not approved and I was called into the church office and asked to no longer attend services. I asked the pastor if all who attended had notified the office of their sins and shortcomings? For some reason religious bureaucracies do not like questions like that. So I went and found a new church. I sat down with the new pastor and told him my situation. He said I could attend the church with a probationary stipulation for six months. Not worried about any stipulations, I agreed. Within two months I was sent a letter inviting me to join the church. In the long term I served as a trustee for seven years and also as an usher. I am still affiliated with that church. By the way, the pastor of the first church called me up and invited me out to breakfast. While at breakfast he apologized to me. We departed as good friends. Church has meant so much for me right from childhood. I grew up in the Pentecostal Church. I had faith in God but in the interim years of military service my ‘religion’ took a back seat. As I am reminded…if God is your co-pilot, then you are in the wrong seat. When my wife succumbed to cancer, I became bitter at God and religion. That was my big mistake. My life spent four years in the ‘pissed off’ mode and I was lead to a life of total remorse. It was only when I regained my faith and religion that my life turned around. I am so thankful for the forgiveness that I received. I am thankful for the 20 beautiful years I was given with my wife and my wonderful children. Church is now a part of my life and I do not know what I would do without it. My Christian brothers and sisters are now my family and I wake up everyday looking forward to the day…tests, trials, persecutions, and rewards. There is a God. I have experienced Him.
That was a beautiful read Capt.
It is a shame that the last safe place left, the church, turns people away.
More people should follow these verses from the Bible:
“for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”
Matthew 25: 35-36
Reading your testimony has “made my day”.
After being forced out of Clay County because of their new 2000-foot residency restriction, I now reside in Gainesville, with my husband being released Thursday of next week. We will be living together in a neighborhood where there are eight other registrants. They have all been such a blessing to me. My family has pretty much written me off because I will not divorce my husband, but I have found a new “family”.
We want to attend a church but have been told it will first require an interview for my husband, church member notification, and then a security team with us at all times. We are only seeking one service a week to attend and will give financially to the church. We would never expect to join or attend any of the other functions. I would be with my husband at all times. I am not willing to go through all that they would be asking of us.
I cannot even count all that God has done for me, especially during these past two months. Every day that I get up and say thank you to Him no matter what happens throughout the day, the good and the seemingly bad, He has worked miraculous blessings for me. My faith has only grown stronger and would not want to undertake any task without first committing it to His will, trusting that His ways are far better than my ways.
With all of that said, having always been in a church since I was born, I have become dismayed at what is happening to registrants when they want to worship God with other people. I find myself becoming a little bitter. There are people who will roll out the welcome mat to you if they find out that you do not attend church anywhere. I have seen some of these people try to make others feel guilty because they are not attending a church. I am just waiting for that to happen to my husband and me, and I will let them know in no uncertain terms that we are not attending their church because they would not have us.
I will now only give financially to churches that take in registrants with open arms. MJ gave me a good church to attend in Jacksonville, but we now live too far away to attend there. There is also one in the Tallahassee area, but we need one in Alachua County. If anyone knows of a body of believers that regularly meet for worship in Alachua County and receives registrants in the manner that Christ taught, please let me know about it. Thank you.
Two things Sarah.
#1 Bless you for standing by your man and not giving up on him, even with the threat of your own family disowning you. That is grand loyalty.
#2 Do like I do. You do not have to “Join” a church. Just attend and keep people out of your business. Go to church, when service is over, go home or out to eat. You do not have to join groups, go out to eat with members etc.
I know this sounds antisocial but I go to church and then leave. I am nice to the people sitting around me but none of them need to know my business. When service is over I head home.
Blessings for your and your husband. Will keep you, your family and your situations in my prayers.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Sarah, in a world where wedding vowels don’t mean ‘crap’ to people and the legal system, I honor you for standing by your husband Ed. He is a very fortunate and truly blessed individual. May God bless you and get you settled into a peaceful home with kind neighbors. It can be done…I know.
Ad on:
Speaking of not giving to the church. As one who is called to reach others, I can tell you, when God tells us to tithe, it does not always mean you have to give it to the church. Although if you do attend a church, it is important to support them.
If you still want to tithe and and cannot find a church that wont treat you and your family like a Pariah, read the following posted by a group called learning to give.
By their very nature and mission, most religious institutions are philanthropic, attempting to help others and make the world a better place. This is especially true when considering the Jewish directive to repair the earth and the Christian objective to redeem it. Through these aims, churches and synagogues often pass on some of the tithed funds to other organizations that are involved in charitable works in their communities. For example, a church that gives a portion of its tithes to the American Red Cross to provide food and water for people in a hurricane-stricken city.
So basically by donating to worthy causes, you are still giving of your fruits ( money, clothing, time etc ) as long as it is going to help others in need.
I would not give a dime to church that turns someone away just because of something they did in the past. I can understand they want to protect others there but what about those hiding in the pews they do not know about?
Our Via de Cristo reunion men’s group had a discussion about tithing one day. My position was that the ‘church’ is not a building but a compilation of people doing God’s work. That is why my monthly category of tithing comes under the heading of “God’s Kingdom”. I give to my church but part of my 10% goes to organizations that are doing God’s work…feeding and clothing the homeless, educating people about about the Word of God outside the confines of the ‘church building’, supporting programs that build up families, support policies that are pro-life, and yes, support law firms that takes a stand in court for Christians who have their convictions condemned by the ‘world’. I tithe to “God’s Kingdom”.
Capt.,
You make a very important point. The Church is the entire body of those who repent, believe and follow Christ. It’s not a building, local congregation or a denominational group. Too many think there are all sorts of churches, but in truth there is only one Church. If any assembly of folks calling themselves Christians reject another professing Christian based on sins in the past that he/she has repented of, then the assembly is the one operating outside of God’s will – not the one whom the assembly rejects.
Please take the time to commend Bishop Kevin Adams via email. He has expressed a Christlike attitude.
Commend this uneducated asshole for what!!!? What the hell has being open and honest gotten any of us before. I was asked to leave two churches. And made to feel like a puss filled scab until I just left another. Now I need to provide documentation before I can repent, worship, and heal, Jesus didn’t do that to the women at the well or the man in the caves whom He cast the demons out of!!! Nothing about this clowns attitude is Christ like!!!
You might want to suggest to him that the bill is not needed to assure his congregation safety, and there is no need to further ostracize registered offenders by needlessly “holding them to account” for something they have already been held account for a thousandfold…
Many churches today are whitewashed – like the Pharisees – to the point that they have forgotten their mandate and forgotten their founding.
Let’s take a look at the rap sheet of the Apostles Jesus chose to spread the message of salvation globally:
Peter – Attempted murder (cut off someone’s ear)
Paul – Conspiracy to commit murder (See Acts 22)
James and John – Corruption (seeking places of honor with Jesus)
Matthew – Traitor (tax collector for Rome)
Simon the Zealot – Terrorist (zealot)
Judas – Conspiracy to commit murder, thief (betrayal of Jesus, stealing from money bag)
The Eleven – Desertion (abandoning Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane)
In other news date today, “Father-son duo of Tennessee deputies beat handcuffed people and bragged about it, feds say”.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/father-son-duo-tennessee-deputies-152708811.html
Christ is all about forgiveness and repentance. He was all about seeking out and finding the lost. He is all about redemption and second chances (paid for with the his very own shed blood!). All who call themselves Christian are REQUIRED by Christ to forgive all, and to accept as co-equal brothers and sisters ALL who repent and believe, just as Christ forgives all who come to him (For ALL have fallen short).
This law is a permanent barrier between Christians who are not on the registry and Christians who are on the registry. It establishes a permanent sub-class of individuals within the Church – mandated by the state! I would go so far as to call it blasphemous, as it is in direct contravention of the mandate to the Church given by God. Who is the head of the church? Is it Christ, or is it a bunch of self-serving, slimeball politicians? No true Christian should accept the imposition of secular interference into the realm of the Church; i.e., Ecclesia (a Greek word meaning the called-out ones). Called out by God – not by politicians and not even by preachers, priests or other Christians. Lastly, we can’t be called out at all if we let the politicians dictate how we operate within our churches. There is a reason for the first amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Jumping through hoops to notify the local church of our registered status before we attend will certainly impede our ability to freely exercise our religion.
Thank you, Cherokeejack and Capt Charles Munsey Jr, for you comments which are all “food for thought”. I come from a background where it is taught that all tithes must go to the church (storehouse). But maybe that storehouse encompasses more than what goes on inside that physical structure. One thing I know for sure, though, is that it will not be going anywhere that treats registrants like second-class citizens.
The “News” segment is misleading. The bill is a government mandate so that on the date the bill becomes law, all RSO are forbidden to practice their religion at their place of worship until the church leader is forced to blaspheme the Holy Spirit as he is compelled by the state of Tennessee to preach a false gospel stating God can only forgive some sins and not others. The bill also mandates a change in church doctrine to become an amalgam of holy church doctrine and state laws. For those churches that preach that Jesus forgives all sins, and that all church doctrine comes from God: The Holy Spirit must take a back seat because the Tennessee legislature is bringing in a two-tier forgiveness policy to replace the teaching in Colossians 2:13. Why should the church have to absorb the cost of editing the Bibles to conform to this policy? Perhaps for a cost savings, church leaders can be given a “cheat sheet” from the Tennessee legislature indicating all of the verses that are at odds with the new doctrine suggesting “God can forgive most sins, but certain sins, specifically sexual sins…well, let’s just say, God may be powerful, but not THAT powerful! You say when you were 18 you shot your 16 year-old girl friend 6 times when she was having sex with your best friend? God is cool if you used a gun. If you used a camera, our church can’t forgive you. It is Tennessee law!”
The anchorman, “A new bill to allow them (RSO) to attend church is on the table.” Problem: RSO already have the right to attend church. The law is a restriction on church! Travis Cummings is a journalism failure! Here is why: He reached out to “many”, “churches”. How many is “many”? What kind of churches? Catholic? Wicca? Jehovah’s Witness? Who did he speak to? “They refused to comment.” Was that the church secretary? How is a RSO supposed to freely choose a church when by Travis Cummings account, out of “many” churches, there was only one where an RSO would be officially welcomed? How would an RSO get authorization to attend church when out of the “many” churches interviewed, only one would even comment!? What kind of church is secretive about their doctrine? Did Travis Cummings ask if there is a RSO policy? So many unanswered questions!
Churches do not “Check I.D’s when you enter. Most do not if any have facial recognition cameras. Just go to church, enjoy, go home. You do not have to fill out paperwork, apply to work there or join private in home groups. That is the only way they find out who you are .
I have been attending the same church for 20 years and not joined any groups. Don’t stay afterwards to chat. Just shake a few hands on the way out and head home.
If one of us ever got arrested for attending church, (Other than if we did something bad there ) I would personally head to Washington D.C and rip the original copy of the constitution in half, burn it and spread the ashes on the graves of our founding Fathers.
“This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. ”
Revelation 14:12