![]() ![]() Some of you felt uncared for, neglected and even blamed in this church, I am truly sorry. Pastor Peter James spoke in a public worship gathering to the victims: "We, as church leaders, were part of the harm in failing to extend the compassion and mercy that you needed. In March of this year, the church's pastor acknowledged in a sermon that the leadership "became aware that we were not caring adequately for the victims of (youth director's) abuse." The church had set up a ministry to help these persons, but as part of the process made the decision to acknowledge its failings, apologize to the victims, and publicly commit to their care. In 2009 Vienna Presbyterian's elders began to look again at what went wrong. No significant help was provided for the students whose lives had been affected by the youth pastor. There were many painful conversations but little more substantive action by the church. Several years ago a student ministry staffer was dismissed for sexual misconduct and later convicted for contributing to the delinquency of minors. The Vienna Presbyterian Church may force some persons to pause in their contempt and rethink what happens when people truly live as biblical Christians. With more and more people in our nation who have no significant Christian roots and with little or no contact with authentic disciples of Jesus Christ, the labels of 'judgmental" and "hypocritical" are easily and somewhat casually pinned on the Church. People in our culture tend to be suspicious even hostile towards Christianity as an organized religion. The Christian Church has taken a lot of hits in recent years.
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