Registered sex offender chosen head pastor at a church in Texas

[cleanhippie]

DEFENDING a decision to appoint Claude Gilliland III, 54, to the post of senior pastor at the New Heart Family Worship Center in Cleburne, Texas, the retiring head of the church, Carl Roye, pointed out great men of God in the Bible who had sinned too.

David was an adulterer and a murderer, Roye said. He added:

Paul the apostle, he was a murderer and God forgave them and used them in a great way. I think He loves Claude Gilliland just like He loves Carl Roye and just like He loves you or whoever.

Though the church board knew about Gilliland’s past, the congregation didn’t find out Gilliland was a registered sex offender until after the vote.

Gilliland was convicted in 1993 of sexual assault.

--snip--

According to this report, Texas Department of Public Safety records show that Gilliland was convicted of sexual assault on a 35-year-old woman. He is required to annually re-register with the state. PublicData.com records show Gilliand was also convicted of theft and driving while intoxicated.

Cleburne Deputy Police Chief Amy Knoll said there are no laws, at least locally, that govern how Gilliland chooses to live or work. And because his offence was against an adult, there would have been no laws about his interaction with children.

He was, however, listed among all sex offenders residing in Johnson County in an October Times-Review story that warned parents about trick-or-treating at offenders’ homes.

http://freethinker.co.uk/2013/01/05/registered-sex-offender-chosen-head-pastor-at-a-church-in-texas/

[Siwsan]

1. This is a real "only time will tell" situation

And it's beyond disturbing, trying to figure out how they decide who deserves these biblical-based rationalizations to forgiveness.

[xfundy]

2. So now he's found himself a profitable enterprise.

As a "legitimate businessman." As if.

[Angry Dragon]

3. .........

[Flabbergasted]

4. You deleted specifically the assault charge itself...

Although putting someone in power with a criminal past is typically seen as a poor practice and mr Gilliland has been convicted of an obviously heinous crime, it is not something that is impossible to remedie. If he true to heart has changed then I don't see the problem.

There are many many people who perform heinous crimes against others who change their life around. I know a few in fact. Attending church is sometimes a significant part of the process. It is impossible to tell whether this guy has changed because none of us know him.

If he was convicted of pedophilia that would be a different story. Or if the crime was a fairly recent occurrence then that would be a different story.

Plus the op specifically deleted the text that explained the crime itself. I'm not going to judge this as being any less horrifying than other rapes but...

"He was going through a nasty divorce. His wife claimed he raped her. He said he never raped her … He ultimately spent four years in prison."

Pastor Roye, ailing and retiring, introduced Gilliland to the church he started. Roye said Gilliland was upfront with him from the beginning.

About two weeks ago, I told him it would be a good idea to tell the church about it. He wasn’t as forthcoming as I hoped he would. He just said he had a dark past. He’d be glad to talk to anyone about it if they wanted to talk to him. He never had anyone come to him.

Roye said he is standing behind Gilliland based on a principal in the Bible.

The whole thing about the church is forgiveness. The Bible states if we can’t forgive our brother, then God can’t forgive us of our sins.

This is probably not a seriel rapist. Deleting that line specifically is disingenuous and some if the surrounding details are important. It was not something he was trying to necessarily hide and I can see his trepidation in announcing to the whole church his past. For all we know it was a bogus charge.

[cleanhippie]

5. Do you see the --snip-- ?

That is used to show where I cut the article. I didn't delete anything. It's right there in the link for you to follow and read in its entirety, as is customary.

[Flabbergasted]

6. You cut a huge part of the context out. Inclusion of this information changes the story. Nt

[cleanhippie]

7. And I'm limited to the amount I can post, which is why the link is included.

I get what you are saying, but there was no intention in my part to hide anything.

You can infer what you want, but I can can only tell you what I actually did.

[humblebum]

8. You must understand that the hippie tends to put his own spin on most articles about religion.

Last edited Sun Jan 6, 2013, 11:07 PM - Edit history (1)

It is true that many characters from the Bible were indeed guilty of crimes or of being imperfect human beings. Paul was a terrorist and a murderer. David was a murderer and an adulterer. Moses a murderer. Solomon, Peter, Mathew, Rahab - all came from less than perfect backgrounds.