Tanisha Gingerich (Stutzman) has decided to discuss this in public, which is why Trudy is responding in public. I don't think it's reasonable to expect Trudy to somehow be silent. Here is an example of why this is a problem; this is from a (public) thread where she was arguing with Keeshon Washington, who is someone I have personally known, spent time with, driven around with for a fundraiser, shared dinner with, and generally have appreciated as a brother in Christ.
Tanisha Gingerich (Stutzman) wrote:Keeshon Marshall Washington[,]
Thank you for your concerns, I am happy to answer. Leroy did not lie in that he was completely unaware a minor was involved in the charges against him. In those days he was in the deplorable habit of exposing himself in public. Eventually he was reported, arrested, and tried in court. The papers mentioning a minor were never brought up in those proceedings (presumably because it was a 17 year old, and under Indiana law that is legally not considered a minor in cases of exposure. If it HAD been considered a minor, he would have done serious jail time). He accepted the ruling of the court at the end of that trial, paid his sentence, and was never aware of the "minor" documents until they were released by Trudy. It was a complete shock to him. According to Indiana law tho, no minor was involved. I used the term "cleared" because in the eyes of the law, he IS clear after his trial and paid sentence. What other term would you like me to use? It seems to me ya'll want to play judge and jury, and do a better job than the court system did.
Leroy's behavior back then was inexcusable. He himself would say that. When he hit rock bottom during his prison time, he found Jesus. The man was cleansed, never to return to those sins again. He has been living clean for two decades, and now people are trying to drag this stuff back up as though he should not now or ever be allowed in ministry. And I am confused and flabbergasted. DO WE BELIEVE IN REDEMPTION OR NOT?
So yes, the accusations are foolishness. And it needs to stop. There are legitimate cases where deplorable people in *current* sins are being put in church leadership and covered for. That is absolutely disgusting and inexcusable, we can agree on that. This is not one of those cases. You are taking your hurt and anger out on the wrong target.
And to be clear, Leroy's sudden resignation was due to serious health concerns, and a realization that due to the viciousness of the attack on him, he was putting others associated with him in the line of fire and he did not feel that was fair to them.
Do you have any other questions?
I don't think it's accurate to call Keeshon "one of Trudy's followers"; he is a person who is from PA and indeed born and raised in the general vicinity of where Bethesda C.F. is, so I think it's reasonable for him to discuss this.
Of note here, we see:
- Defending Leroy's claim that what he did wasn't with a "minor" due to a technicality in Indiana law that gave him a much milder sentence for exposing himself to a 16 or 17 year old than if the victim had been 15. I don't think this is a good thing. Mrs. Gingerich is choosing to defend this strategy of claiming he "wasn't aware" he had been involved with a minor. Regardless or not, I believe it is the responsibility of someone who chooses to expose himself to young Amish girls on the side of the road to ascertain what their ages are, not to claim ignorance when he later finds out they were indeed 16 or 17.
- "DO WE BELIEVE IN REDEMPTION OR NOT?" - apparently, those of us who think someone with such a history shouldn't be involved in a position in senior leadership in ministry... don't believe in redemption? I disagree with this and think installing someone with such a history (in his 30s) of doing so is very unwise, and indeed in many conservative Anabaptist circles, we operate that way. My denomination does, and so do many others. Part of this is out of wisdom that doing so limits the impact to future potential victims if someone does relapse. It is also out of a desire to protect the perpetrator by keeping him away from situations where he might re-offend. That's a good thing. Part of redemption is helping someone have a "way of escape" from temptation.
But the real surprise here is learning that Leroy voluntarily resigned from the senior pastor position... due to health concerns? And because of the "visciousness of the attack on him"? What is viscious about simply exhibiting a public legal record?