To Cast a Stone or Not?

I've got a little challenge for some of my friends, clergy, ordained or otherwise who are involved with the life of the church. How would you handle this problem?

On a Sunday morning in late January, the Rev. Madison Shockley reminded his congregation at Pilgrim United Church of Christ of the New Testament story in which Jesus stops a crowd from stoning an adulterer.

Whoever is without sin should throw the next stone, Jesus tells the people, and the crowd disperses.

Then Shockley introduced Mark Pliska, who had been attending the Carlsbad church for a few weeks. Pliska told the crowd his story, that he was a convicted child molester.

Pliska left and Shockley opened up the service to comments.

And that opened a firestorm of emotion, dredging up memories of child abuse from several adult members and creating a debate over safety versus inclusiveness. Suddenly, a liberal, progressive church that prided itself on being welcoming to all people was struggling with what that really meant.

“You have people who feel passionately, faithfully and very differently,” Shockley said.

Tensions ran so high in the church, which draws about 150 adults and 30 children on Sunday mornings, that Shockley “very reluctantly” asked Pliska to stop coming to services – at least temporarily – while questions could be sorted out.

Tears welled up as the pastor recounted the conversation. “Nothing in my almost 30 years of ministry has prepared me to turn somebody away,” he said.

When the church's preschool heard about Pliska, both from the service and later from a letter from the church, one of the parents was so outraged that she began a petition drive in protest.

“It's not appropriate to have him there,” said Jessica Muehlhausen of Vista. It doesn't matter to Muehlhausen that the preschool isn't open on Sundays or that her family does not attend the church. What matters to her is the risk.

“Mark Pliska has a right to worship,” she said. “He just needs to find an appropriate church that isn't attached to a children's center.”

Shockley said Pliska has since been evicted from his home and lost his job as a mechanic.

The pastor blames publicity and has stopped using his name. Muehlhausen blames Pliska. “People who commit crimes like this against children have this coming to them,” she said.

Pliska, 53, could not be reached for comment. According to authorities, he was convicted in 1983 in Mendocino County of molesting two boys under 14 and of indecent exposure in 1998 in Monterey County. He was released last year from Atascadero State Hospital in San Luis Obispo County and is a registered sex offender.

John? John? John? (I know a lot of Johns) Mark? Andrew? Any ideas? If any of you post something on this story, please let me know so I can link to it.

The United Church of Christ is a pretty liberal denomination, so it's somewhat surprising the reaction the congregation had to this guy. And frankly, this is a tough one, though that last paragraph leads me to believe that there is a high risk of recidivism in this guy, and I don't know how you could involve him in your church with that risk hanging over his head. As a church insurance guy, I would certainly advise against having him around, but I would like to hear what the more learned of my friends would say.