S/O What church/denom have you stand in fr. of the congregation and confess/repent

[LeeAnn Balbirona]

Right, by "scandal" I meant an average person and their situation rising to the level of a well-known leader's notoriety...like it makes the newspapers. Not just that a few people, or even quite a few people, gossiping about them. But again, this is probably part of why the practice was changed and we no longer have public confession (in the Catholic Church) as a regular part of our sacramental lives. It only becomes necessary now when a public person commits a serious sin that affects the public--for instance in cases of priests abusing minors, vulnerable adults, committing other serious sins, etc. And this is also why some prominent Catholic politicians have been called out by some Catholic bishops for publicly advocating moral opinions contrary to Catholic teaching--such as Nancy Pelosi, et al, working to extend abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and so on. This is considered a public sin and requires public repentence (thus far, not forthcoming).

[simka2]

Right, by "scandal" I meant an average person and their situation rising to the level of a well-known leader's notoriety...like it makes the newspapers. Not just that a few people, or even quite a few people, gossiping about them. But again, this is probably part of why the practice was changed and we no longer have public confession (in the Catholic Church) as a regular part of our sacramental lives. It only becomes necessary now when a public person commits a serious sin that affects the public--for instance in cases of priests abusing minors, vulnerable adults, committing other serious sins, etc. And this is also why some prominent Catholic politicians have been called out by some Catholic bishops for publicly advocating moral opinions contrary to Catholic teaching--such as Nancy Pelosi, et al, working to extend abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and so on. This is considered a public sin and requires public repentence (thus far, not forthcoming).

 

Very well put! Thank you for the clarification :)

[Joanne]

This is what I've heard done--typically in fairly small churches--in response to a sin that led to pregnancy. The congregants were then warned strongly against gossiping and urged to be suppportive. The intent was not to shame, but to take the secret shame away by a public act of forgiveness. I believe that pregnancy provoked the public nature of the act simply because everyone can see that an unmarried girl is pregnant. It's not that it's more serious than a number of other sins, but those don't create a visible reminder for the next 9 months. Otherwise, regular congregants would not have been brought up to confess.

 

IMO, from a discipline and developmental standpoint, I could not disagree *more* with this approach. I think it's sick, unkind, graciousless and cruel.

 

An unmarried, pregnant, conservative Christian woman (or one who is young and happens to be in a conservative Christian community decided on by her parents) is not going to be helped, served, supported or freed by this process.

 

The response to sexual sin on the part of the church is exagerated over our response to other sin. Every day we make choices to elevate sexual sin to public and special status while ignoring the less interesting ones such as poor money handling, over-eating, jealousy, rage, etc.

[TravelingChris]

I believe our church practices the same policy as SolaMichelle described. I think when we had our church membership classes, it was talked about. In practical terms, I am not sure how the ministerial staff would find out about sin without someone coming to confess or someone else telling about it. I live in a huge metropolitan area. People who are member at our church come from VA, DC, and MD since the church is near to the other two areas. I am not sure how they would find out about various sins.

 

I am also troubled by the emphasis on singling out the girl who gets pregnant, versus all the others who are doing the same but didn't, the boys and men who are partners, the adults who have various sexual sins along with all the rest of the people who have many others. While I am not happy about premarital sex, I can't say it is worse that porn addiction, stealing, violent acts, dishonest dealings, etc.

[6packofun]

I don't think any mainstream churches "have" (read: make?) anyone go up. They *offer* it at a specific time during the service and those who *want* to, go up to pray or confess or whatever.

[Nakia]

IMO, from a discipline and developmental standpoint, I could not disagree *more* with this approach. I think it's sick, unkind, graciousless and cruel.

 

An unmarried, pregnant, conservative Christian woman (or one who is young and happens to be in a conservative Christian community decided on by her parents) is not going to be helped, served, supported or freed by this process.

 

The response to sexual sin on the part of the church is exagerated over our response to other sin. Every day we make choices to elevate sexual sin to public and special status while ignoring the less interesting ones such as poor money handling, over-eating, jealousy, rage, etc.

 

Once again, :iagree: with Joanne.

[justamouse]

There is a huge wave of church discipline that is becoming popular. Some churches even have you agree to it when becoming members so that they can't be sued, because there have been some lawsuits in recent years.

 

That sounds wayy to cultish for my taste.

 

I must be one of the only ones who thinks this isn't so terrible. It isn't about certain sins, imo. Frankly, I think we'd all be better off if we'd confess our sins to one another whether it was pride, gossiping, or sleeping around.

 

I don't think it should be required and I don't necessarily think it has to be in front of the entire congregation, but I think there is a wonderful accountability, transparency, and freedom in being able to stand up and say, "Hey, I'm human and I need you all to support me as I work through this."

 

So while I have a hard time imagining it, I don't think it is terrible. And while I think it has the potential to be abused, I can see where it could also be helpful.

 

Wow, frankly, I'd love to stand up in front of my congregation and be able to say, "You know what? I'm addicted to the computer and I need help getting away from this stupid thing." Maybe, someone in that congregation would actually care.

 

Everyone is so determined to hide the elephants in the room. God forbid people in the church be transparent with each other.

 

I don't know. Maybe I'm nuts. LOL.

 

You know, within close circles of friends, I can see this and I know how it works out. I have a close group of christian friends I'm --not accountable to, but transparent with--but that is because we have years of trust between us, and many situations we've all walked through in love with eachother. To sign papers and have this enacted within a congregation? No how, no way. Sorry, too much room for abuse.

[simka2]

I don't think any mainstream churches "have" (read: make?) anyone go up. They *offer* it at a specific time during the service and those who *want* to, go up to pray or confess or whatever.

 

 

Sorry, but this isn't true :( The church where I saw this done is over 8,000 and very mainstream...for an A/G church :D. And this was a very specific situation where thay made this particular girl get up in front of the whole auditorium confess her shameful, rebellious act, ask forgiveness of the church...and plead that no one look down on her staff pastor father for her indiscretion!

[Cindy in FL.]

This has occured in our PCA church a couple of times in the 25 years I was there. Both involved very public sins. One reported in the newspaper and the other was a staff member.

 

Cindy

[Jugglin'5]

Sorry, but this isn't true :( The church where I saw this done is over 8,000 and very mainstream...for an A/G church :D. And this was a very specific situation where thay made this particular girl get up in front of the whole auditorium confess her shameful, rebellious act, ask forgiveness of the church...and plead that no one look down on her staff pastor father for her indiscretion!

 

See...once again I think of John 8. Where was the boy? That's awful. When Joseph thought Mary had had relations with another man while they were betrothed, "being a righteous man, he resolved to put her away QUIETLY." I think that tells us God's heart about these matters right there.

[May]

Have never seen or heard of this being done in LCMS churches. I would leave in a heartbeat if something like this happened in the church I attend.

[Parrothead]

Sorry, but this isn't true :( The church where I saw this done is over 8,000 and very mainstream...for an A/G church :D. And this was a very specific situation where thay made this particular girl get up in front of the whole auditorium confess her shameful, rebellious act, ask forgiveness of the church...and plead that no one look down on her staff pastor father for her indiscretion!

That sounds like a whole lot of CYA for the parent on staff.