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registries and notification systems have little to no effect on recidivism rates and may, in some cases, increase the risk they will commit future sex crimes. Te legal barriers and social stigma that follow
conviction for sex-related offenses can leave offenders without the support they need to return to communities following incarceration and can generate fear and suspi- cion among even the most compassionate of Christians.
‘Real live people’ Safety fears were brought to the fore when the man at Redeemer was arrested again, this time for rape. Te charges were later dropped, but not before newspapers printed the details of the alleged crime, his prior convic- tions and status as a registered offender. Soon Redeemer’s members were asking Hayden:
“Did you know he was a sex offender?” Indeed, she did, and she had informed several other
people at church. Tat night at a regular council meet- ing, Hayden asked: “Is this going to be an open church or a closed church?” Council members responded: “Of course we’re going
to be open; everyone needs the Lord.” Redeemer’s council was open to holding an adults-
only worship service. Hayden and the council craſted a policy on registered offenders, including provid- ing mentors for them so “everybody—including the offender—is safe.” It’s been far from easy. “Tere was a lot of hardness of
heart among the people, including me,” Hayden said. But when a registered offender spoke to the congre-
gation, she and other members came to see the human- ity that lay behind the legal status. “Tey weren’t those people; they had names,” she said. “Tey were people ... people searching for the Lord. It is easy to objec- tify them—those people, ‘sex offenders’—but Jesus [welcomed] the leper. And I know God has forgiven a whole lot in my life.” Soon Hayden was fielding calls from the jail chaplain,
probation and parole officers, and re-entry program staff. She invited the offender who had already shared his story to speak with other area ELCA pastors. Parole and probation staff in Binghamton approved ongoing services at Redeemer for former offenders and began including fliers about the worship services in their offices. Te ministry has raised other questions for the folks
at Redeemer and for Hayden. She now works with com- munity groups on issues of re-entry aſter incarceration. Redeemer’s ministry has already had an impact on
the man who knocked on the church door that day. “One thing he keeps saying is, ‘You believed in me, so I keep going,’ ” Hayden said. “You have to have someone believe in you.” Te transformation hasn’t been limited to former
offenders. As plans for the service developed, a woman approached Hayden and said: “I hear you’re having this alternative service. I’m a victim of a sex offender. But I’m going to come, because I feel like I can be healed there, because we’re all going to be at the same table together.”
Author bio: Cumming is program director for ELCA hunger education. Elizabeth Hunter, a section editor of The Lutheran, also con- tributed to this story.
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