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"Pastors who prey upon vulnerable individuals is a problem
that is shielded... Because of the shielding, it allows
these "pastors" to be able to continue to offend others and
abuse their power even more..." |
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Sexual Exploitation Survivors
Speak Out!
Anonymous
Pastors who prey upon vulnerable individuals is a problem that is
shielded... Because of the shielding, it
allows these "pastors" to be able to continue to offend others and
abuse their power even more.
They are pastors (mostly men), who in a
congregants eyes are the closest connection to God. I was one of
those congregants who worshipped my pastor. He seemed so
compassionate and warm. I trusted everything about him. He took me,
a broken bird, and made me feel loved and wanted and beautiful. I
did not realize though that during my year and a half of counseling
with him he was grooming me for his own self indulgence...his own
gratification...I thought he loved me. I loved him. Before I knew it
I had entered into a deeply intimate relationship with him. I
rationalized my relationship with him because he was a Godly man...
that was my thinking.
Needless
to say I came to my senses with God's help, our Heavenly Father.
I wanted to confess the relationship
and wanted him to do the same thing... so
that both of us could get help and heal.
I became painfully aware of who this "pastor" really was in the
subsequent months, when my case went from an April hearing before a
Committee on Investigation to a four-day church trial in July, which
just ended a couple of weeks ago, and ultimately found this pastor
guilty of sexual misconduct and immorality.
Yes, I
was heard and believed by his peers; however, the emotional trauma
for me is long but over. I have to attend the church where members
of this church were under his "spell" also, as I was at one time.
They label me as the evil one. I
have some wonderful supporters, but have figured out that the church
itself is made up of a lot of hypocrites.
Although I believe in God
completely, my faith in the church system is just about gone. I've
learned there is but one place to put our faith...
God... the walls of a church do not
make it holy, the pastor's robe does not make him holy. A lot of
them can be wolves in shepherd's clothing.
Churches need to be held
accountable for those they "employ" in their ministry...
the secretiveness needs to STOP. God proclaims truth as the
way to live. The truth will set you free...
Why is it then that people have such a hard time dealing with
the truth? They would rather stay sheltered in the sickness of
denial.
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