We're not talking about just opening our arms wide and saying 'Come on in'. Sue Jackson wonders if churches are really up to the task. We are very bad at dealing with the reality of what really happens to people. As a teen-ager, Jackson was sexually abused by a church youth worker who was later convicted and sent to prison. She said the only people in her church who ever talked to her about the abuse, let alone admitted anything bad had happened, were people who were not around when the incidents occurred.
Congregations can be terribly naive, wanting to see things in black and white.
Churches need to look at themselves and how healthy they are before they look at the role they have to play in this kind of abuse. Guidelines for churches include the recommendation to work with local professionals such as police, probation officers and social workers. The church can be an important part of this settling process. Local churches are being encouraged to create small, specially trained pastoral teams that will support and accompany a sex offender in worship and at other church activities. In consultation with prison chaplains, pastors may even decide to visit offenders who will be settling in their communities before their release from prison.