Readers: I urge you to go to Christa Brown's blog and read about a church in New Hampshire that disciplined a 15-year old in front of the church in 1997 for her "sin" of getting raped and pregnant by a 30-year old man in the church.
"Police Say Girl Raped, Then Relocated" - by Christa Brown.
After the discipline session, the victim was moved across the country making it impossible for the police to interview her, and the case sat for 13 years unresolved while the rapist went unpunished, and according to the police the pastor of the rapist and the victim refused to give a statement to the police regarding the matter.
How sick. The pastor did it all for Jesus, didn't he? Just being true to scripture, disciplining those who have "sinned" - and not wanting to "gossip" about the matter to police, I presume.
But thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the Internet and blogs and discussion forums, as this victim, 13 YEARS AFTER HER RAPE....got in touch with a woman who runs an online group for victims of church abuse.
Yes, an online discussion group helped encourage this woman who was the victim of a rapist and an abusive church, to realize she was a victim and that she should come forward to see justice served. Sure blows out of the water the "beauty shop gossip" label applied to online blogs and forums by one prominent pastor back around the days of Darrel Gilyard's arrest.
And the NH man who raped the 15-year old in 1997 was arrested last week, 13 years after the rape.
And now the pastor, who has since moved on to another church, gets the privilege of answering questions of what happened 13 years ago and why this girl was relocated, and why she was humiliated in front of the church for her "sin". While the current pastor of the abusing church tells the parishioners to "only talk to God" about this matter.
Hmmmm...this Trinity Baptist Church in NH relocated the victim across country...the Trinity Baptist Church in my city relocated the abuser across the ocean to Germany...I guess whichever is most convenient, in the name of Jesus and for His sake, of course.
Another fine example of the truth that the mills of the gods sure grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine.
Amen? Amen!
14 comments:
When I originally read this post on Christa's blog on Tuesday, I was very numb for a LONG time.
This, Gillyard and Caner's lies are what push people away from Christianity.
But for truthful and honest people like Watchdog, Wade Burleson, Christa, Lydia, Debbie, and others, I would walk away from Christianity as a whole.
ALL you (some stupid) preachers, WAKE UP!
Instead of guarding your flock, your are plundering your flock, ravenously devouring your flock and scattering them. Our Lord Jesus Christ will hold you ALL accountable.
All I can think of at this point is:
Jeremiah 23:2
2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
AND Ezekiel 34:12
12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
My prayer is that GOD continues to use us "minions" and clean up men like these, - and others I personally know -, and get those out of the ministry that need to be gone...
And until that is done, The Truth must continue to March on.......
Doug
This stuff is sick. The enablers are sick. Stop enabling abusive pastors! So sorry it took this girl half her lifetime before coming out of the "Don't talk rule" indoctrination. The damage must be crushing. You are right. The blogs and online resources are sometimes ALL victims have to protect themselves from spiritual perps and their enablers.
I read the story on Christa's blog, last evening. It left me angry and sickened at the prospect of pastors who set themselves up as "gods" of their congregations and act as if they really possessed the power of excommunication, etc. If their actions did not result in much harm to good people, it would be rather amusing to watch these little demigods strut. Baptists have a problem, and some groups within the Baptist family are finally beginning to acknowledge and address it. This years Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly will feature a workshop titled: "Congregations as Safe Places for All: What We Have Learned About Clergy Sexual Misconduct." The facilitator is Dr. Diana Garland. Although it is a small step, it is a step in the right direction and I believe will be followed by real, meaningful action. The workshop will be convened Friday, June 25th at 1:30 PM. If you are interested, go to the CBF website, www.thefellowship.info to find out more.
I saw the report on this church on my local newspaper. Apparently it is an Independent Baptist Church which is supposedly more conservative than SBC.
I read a book called Schizophrenic Christianity last year which was one woman's accounting of the massive scandals regarding sexual sin and even allegations of homicide within this denomination.
Never having been Independent Baptist and only an SBC for 9 years before I left, this book shocked me. me.
One thing is certain, the secular press is watching and church leadership is being held accountable all over the US.
"...and I believe will be followed by real, meaningful action."
I'll believe in Baptists taking real action on clergy sex abuse when I actually see real action, and not a bit sooner. But so far, we haven't seen much more action from those who are labeled as "moderates" than we have from those who are labeled as "fundamentalists." As best I can tell, apart from in Alabama, the CBF hasn't done anything more than the SBC.
So long as Baptists -- Baptists of almost all types -- keep thinking they can deal with this by telling clergy abuse survivors to "go to the church" of the accused perpetrator, then Baptist congregations will not be safe places. Baptists must work cooperatively, beyond the congregational level, on this, and they must find a way to institutionally hear and respect the voices of the victims.
My heart aches for this young girl. I hope the pastor rots.
Anonymous said...
My heart aches for this young girl. I hope the pastor rots.
__________________________________
Baptist don't let em rot, they go after the ones that expose and then deny deny deny.......
See how Bellevue Baptist Church now handles Sex Abuse cases. Just put them on a prayer requests list:
(search using a key word)
"Pray for the following:"
" Man who suffered from sexual and physical abuse at the hands of
his father who was a pastor and police officer is in desperate need
of prayer and help. "
Has anything changed?
"Has anything changed?"
Well, at least this time they didn't say we need to "love on" the pastor/police officer.
Okay, so it just so happens that I've been to this church many times, and have ex relatives that are members. It's a fundamental Baptist church known as a "Bob Jones" church in that most of their leadership are from Bob Jones U. and the students who go to their Christian School are encouraged to go to Bob Jones. I think the church is legalistic, but I also know that the former pastor (Chuck Phelps) had a good reputation as far as I know. He claims to have reported the rape to police as soon as he found out about it and the police dept did nothing. It does sound like there's two sides to this story. Obviously you never blame a child for being raped. She should have never had to apologize to the congregation. And the congregation when reinstating him were told that he cheated on his wife...they did not know that he had raped someone.
Here is Chuck Phelp's side of the story reported by the Concord Monitor--he claims he didn't tell her she was responsible for the rape, but to "be responsible" and avoid the man.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/pastor-no-cover-up-of-alleged-rape
I can truly understand this girl's pain--her mother STILL attends this church and it seems to me that her mother should have stood up more for her daughter than she did.
A very sad situation indeed. It's hard for me to believe that Chuck Phelps is the monster that are portraying him to be though.
Pretting damning information that this deacon was "reinstated" to the church without the church being told that his sin was raping a 15-year old, but were instead led to believe he had merely committed adultery.
And reports I've read said that the church session presented these two members to the church - the victim and the rapist - as separate, unrelated acts of discipline. Is this true?
It sounds like typical baptist deception. Let's let the congregation know just half of the story.
There's not a "side to this story" that restores any shred of respect for Chuck Phelps.
He should not have made the girl go before the congregation. Heartless, stupid, and UNBIBLICAL. She did not sin.
He should have disfellowshiped the lower than life male being who raped her from the church, immediately.
Put him in Christian counseling or treatment or whatever you want, but do not restore him to the church. He's a predator and you have an obligation to protect your members from known risks.
This is one of the most disgusting things I have ever heard. If Phelps is still licensed, ordained, or whatever, then his denominational leadership is no better than he is.
I am speechless. I am angry. I am speechless.
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