Reverend Ref +

NOT HAPPENING

I was told yesterday that Juli, our foreign exchange student, was invited to the Wednesday Night Youth Group at the N.B. church on the north side of town.

(Don't laugh . . . those of you who have visited my fair city -- town -- shire -- will know that the N.B. is the one on the north end of town, and my little parish is on the south end of town.)

I told her that Mrs. Ref and I would discuss it and let her know for next week, but not tonight (see next post down for how we spent last night).

I generally get the creeps when dealing with this particular church and the pastor. Internal strife in other churches are greeted with comments of, "Good, more for me." He's been known to get into fisticuffs on the sideline because somebody critized his son. His son has set off pipe bombs. He will find out about a "competing" church program and will actively work to undercut it so that people attend his program first.

But alot of that his heresay, some of it is bad behavior, and some of it is simply subjective creeps on my part.

I have been actively looking for a good reason to keep The Kid from attending, and now I was looking for one to keep Juli from attending. Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.

I found one.

Today before I went up to VC I stopped by the church to drop off some stuff for the food bank (they also happen to be the distribution center). He was there, attending to the toddlers in the day care that they run.

I asked him, "So tell me, what kind of programs or education or training have you or your staff or volunteers had on the issue of sexual misconduct towards children?"

Answer: "Just me. I have a video tape on the purity of marriage and saving yourself for that that I've watched. But we really don't have any volunteers right now."

There was my reason. To think that a video on the "purity of marriage" equates with training on the issue of sexual misconduct towards children doesn't cut it. I am fairly certain that the good pastor is not abusin, nor will not abuse, any children. But I don't like the fact that he runs such a large children's program and thinks that preventing sexual misconduct means saving yourself for marriage.

It's a good enough reason for me to keep my two girls away from that particular church.