[5]Oregon Faith Report News Note:
Church Mutual insurance company was informed by one of its clients, Set Free Christian Fellowship, that known sex offenders were among Set Free’s congregation. The insurance company’s reaction was swift: sex offenders should be allowed to come to only one predetermined service per week, and they must check in upon arrival and be accompanied by a monitor the entire time they were present in the church.
Church Mutual insurance company was informed by one of its clients, Set Free Christian Fellowship, that known sex offenders were among Set Free’s congregation. The insurance company’s reaction was swift: sex offenders should be allowed to come to only one predetermined service per week, and they must check in upon arrival and be accompanied by a monitor the entire time they were present in the church.
Chad McComas, pastor of Set Free, sees such drastic measures as a recipe for driving away any sex offenders who might want to come. Sinners need Jesus, and sex offenders need Him too. Besides, any sex offender who tells the truth about his past is probably in the church because he wants to worship God and find the forgiveness offered in the Christian proclamation.
That doesn’t mean he poses no threat—but it does mean that he ought to be offered the benefit of the doubt while the church takes reasonable precautions to keep him out of temptation and to protect potential victims. Of course people who work with children ought to undergo background checks. But it’s not possible for a church to check out every person who visits, and it is simply foolish to follow the regulations demanded by Church Mutual.
For more, see the Medford Mail Tribune story here [6]