What are churches doing to stop predators in the church?

[KrisKramer]

The Truth About My Grandfather Harold Herr, the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church Teacher, Plain Minister (HMF), CAM Missionary and Charity Christian Fellowship's Grandpa Harold.

CSA isnt rare in the plain community.

In the plain community, stories like this don’t shock people the way they should. They get buried.... Quieted.... Explained away.

My grandfather was a teacher in an Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite school in the 1970s. What he did to children was known. It was uncovered. But nothing was done. He continued on, not only as a respected member of the community, but he went on to help start Muddy Creek Mennonite church (HMF) as a preacher.

My uncle Dan spoke about what his own father did to him. He told the truth. And still nothing was done.

My grandmother left when she walked in and saw what was happening to me. That is when he was removed as preacher but it wasnt because of his SA of children. What finally mattered was that his “house wasn’t in order.” That his wife left. That he couldn’t “keep his family in line.” That is why he was removed from ministry.

Not because of the children.

Charity Fellowship Church and Christian Aide Ministries (CAM allowed him to be a missionary in Haiti for years) were told—again and again—about the abuse. They were given the truth, repeatedly. And still, he was sent to Haiti as a missionary. Still, he was embraced, defended, lifted up as a “man of God.”

People in leadership dismissed victims as liars. They called my family names. They said my grandmother was a crazy woman, uncle Dan a sodimitte. They defended him.

In 2020, I went to my aunt’s funeral and had to sit beside the man who abused me.

That is what silence looks like. That is what protection of abusers looks like.

In these communities, the words of women and children carry little to no weight, especially if they’ve left. They’re labeled as “sinners.” Meanwhile, abusers are given chance after chance, moving through spaces where they can harm again and again.

We may never know how many children were hurt. We know of some. There are likely many more.

And the most painful truth is this: it didn’t have to happen this way.

If someone had acted in the 1970s, how many children would have been spared?

If warnings had been taken seriously, how many lives would look different today?

If truth had mattered more than reputation, how much suffering could have been prevented?

Instead, the silence continued. The protection continued. The harm continued.

And children paid the price.

[JohnH]

The Truth About My Grandfather Harold Herr, the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church Teacher, Plain Minister (HMF), CAM Missionary and Charity Christian Fellowship's Grandpa Harold.

CSA isnt rare in the plain community.

Yet it’s more rare than outside of it, as relayed to me by a social worker and a law enforcement officer in Holmes County.

In the plain community, stories like this don’t shock people the way they should. They get buried.... Quieted.... Explained away.

My grandfather was a teacher in an Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite school in the 1970s. What he did to children was known. It was uncovered. But nothing was done. He continued on, not only as a respected member of the community, but he went on to help start Muddy Creek Mennonite church (HMF) as a preacher.

My uncle Dan spoke about what his own father did to him. He told the truth. And still nothing was done.

My grandmother left when she walked in and saw what was happening to me. That is when he was removed as preacher but it wasnt because of his SA of children. What finally mattered was that his “house wasn’t in order.” That his wife left. That he couldn’t “keep his family in line.” That is why he was removed from ministry.

Not because of the children.

Charity Fellowship Church and Christian Aide Ministries (CAM allowed him to be a missionary in Haiti for years) were told—again and again—about the abuse. They were given the truth, repeatedly. And still, he was sent to Haiti as a missionary. Still, he was embraced, defended, lifted up as a “man of God.”

People in leadership dismissed victims as liars. They called my family names. They said my grandmother was a crazy woman, uncle Dan a sodimitte. They defended him.

In 2020, I went to my aunt’s funeral and had to sit beside the man who abused me.

That is what silence looks like. That is what protection of abusers looks like.

In these communities, the words of women and children carry little to no weight, especially if they’ve left. They’re labeled as “sinners.” Meanwhile, abusers are given chance after chance, moving through spaces where they can harm again and again.

We may never know how many children were hurt. We know of some. There are likely many more.

And the most painful truth is this: it didn’t have to happen this way.

If someone had acted in the 1970s, how many children would have been spared?

If warnings had been taken seriously, how many lives would look different today?

If truth had mattered more than reputation, how much suffering could have been prevented?

Instead, the silence continued. The protection continued. The harm continued.

And children paid the price.

This is a fundamental problem with certain conservative Anabaptists who do the following things:

- They do not publicly excommunicate for grave moral sins and then require an adequate period of repentance and proof of that before restoration of fellowship.

- They allow members who have committed grave sexual sins to be ordained to the ministry or sent as missionaries.

- They decide that someone is such a good preacher or good missionary they will overlook this.

- They favour people from highly esteemed families and won’t practice church discipline with them properly.

- They eagerly accept people from more conservative settings into a less conservative setting, but don’t respect discipline or excommunications from the more conservative setting.

Many groups have made decisions to stop doing this. Some have not.

[JohnL]

I grieve for you and for all the victims. I just wish I knew how to help.

[barnhart]

KrisKramer, I am sorry you had to experience that and at the same time I am glad you have the strength to speak out. I truly hope your words will be heard and people will think more about responding better in the future.

[Soloist]

Wife: Wow, I certainly hope that I’m never in a church that would be willing to do that. There was another church that we went to that was from the charity movement, and when that sort of sin came up, they gave the man the chance to either turn himself in or they would do it for him. Then they helped support the family and ministered to/visited him while he is probably going to be in prison the rest of his life or pretty close to it.
Hopefully some of those churches have learned their lesson. i’m sorry that your family had to suffer through so much.

[Ernie]

I'm sorry to hear about what happened in your situation. Untold damage has been done by minimizing this sort of sin.

Thankfully in the last ten years or so, most of the Mennonite conferences and fellowships have set up committees to encourage people to report abuse, to them get counseling, and to help them report child abuse to authorities. The last I heard, Eastern is not doing this. I expect there are a lot of unaffiliated congregations and looser networks that are in the same situation. I'm hoping that there will be more progress in the next ten years.

[Soloist]

I'm sorry to hear about what happened in your situation. Untold damage has been done by minimizing this sort of sin.

Thankfully in the last ten years or so, most of the Mennonite conferences and fellowships have set up committees to encourage people to report abuse, to them get counseling, and to help them report child abuse to authorities. The last I heard, Eastern is not doing this. I expect there are a lot of unaffiliated congregations and looser networks that are in the same situation. I'm hoping that there will be more progress in the next ten years.

Wife: I don’t know about Eastern, but Pilgrim at least has some sort of stance about mandatory reporting. I heard it once, and I don’t remember what it is other than that they have to do it. it’s the law of the land, and it’s not as though anybody in the United States is getting the death penalty, so I would think Romans 13 covers this. It doesn’t mean that you’re hating the sinner, and you can still continue to reach out to them, but if they continue in the sin, and it continues being hidden, you’re basically putting them (and you) in peril of hell anyway.

We have heard arguments against it from people in certain random church groups (not Mennonite/Amish or Charity) saying it would make you a betrayer of the brethren, but we personally don’t agree with that, and we would stay far away from those groups with our family. Accountability and protection of the innocent can still be done while loving the person you have to report.

[joshuabgood]

I'm sorry to hear about what happened in your situation. Untold damage has been done by minimizing this sort of sin.

Thankfully in the last ten years or so, most of the Mennonite conferences and fellowships have set up committees to encourage people to report abuse, to them get counseling, and to help them report child abuse to authorities. The last I heard, Eastern is not doing this. I expect there are a lot of unaffiliated congregations and looser networks that are in the same situation. I'm hoping that there will be more progress in the next ten years.

The big question is...why is/was it minimized when other "less weighty" things are/were not? What parts of the thinking/world view/approach to Christianity resulted in such an outcome?

[JohnH]

The big question is...why is/was it minimized when other "less weighty" things are/were not? What parts of the thinking/world view/approach to Christianity resulted in such an outcome?

There are a lot of valid reasons to have a position that Christians ought not to call the police to report crimes, considering the use of force and violence involved.

I find that those reasons ring rather hollow, though, when we talk about a group of believers unable to self-police their own brotherhood, such as the Charity, Beachy, Eastern, and Hope Fellowship churches, who let people like Jeriah Mash, William McGrath, and Harold Herr re-offend over and over.

[Soloist]

The big question is...why is/was it minimized when other "less weighty" things are/were not? What parts of the thinking/world view/approach to Christianity resulted in such an outcome?

There are a lot of valid reasons to have a position that Christians ought not to call the police to report crimes, considering the use of force and violence involved.

I find that those reasons ring rather hollow, though, when we talk about a group of believers unable to self-police their own brotherhood, such as the Charity, Beachy, Eastern, and Hope Fellowship churches, who let people like Jeriah Mash, William McGrath, and Harold Herr re-offend over and over.

Wife: You know, it has happened amongst the Church of God in Christ Mennonite as well, such as over in Idaho back in 2016, and cases in Texas and Wisconsin. it’s horrible whenever it happens, especially when it’s covered up, but I don’t think we can throw entire denominations/church groups under the bus for it when there are individuals and churches that would never allow it. I think it’s a huge improvement that groups are attempting to standardize responses to prevent it from happening again.