Susan Hogan-Albach reports for the Chicago Sun-Times on a case of how little Scriptural requirements for church leadership mean to some church folks. (You'll flip over the last paragraph in this post.)
A southwest suburban Southern Baptist congregation allowed a convicted child sex offender to preach for the last few years -- despite his past, and a warning from his previous church that he might still be dangerous, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
In 1996, Jeff Hannah was sentenced to nine years in prison for having sexual relations with four underage girls -- ages 15 to 17 -- while a married youth minister at Crossroads Church in Libertyville.
Hannah was paroled in 2001 and joined the First Baptist Church of Romeoville, where his new wife was a member. Soon after, the pastor moved on, and church members -- aware of Hannah's crimes -- asked him to step into the pulpit until a replacement was hired, according to church members, Hannah and others. Hannah served in that role for three years and ever since has been a fill-in preacher, teacher and music minister at the church.
Authorities say there's no evidence that Hannah has re-offended -- and Hannah insists he has not -- but he abruptly resigned his membership in the congregation when a reporter started inquiring about him last week. "In our church, we believe in forgiveness," said Del Kirkpatrick, one of the deacons who hired Hannah.
In talking to the Sun-Times last week, Hannah, 42, was unapologetic about his crimes, saying his first marriage had been troubled and he'd had "urges." "I honestly believe that had I been a college pastor, I'd slept with college girls," he said. "But I was a youth pastor. It was less about age and more about who I spent all my time with."...
