It’s remarkable that COGIC Bishop Jerry Maynard’s takeover of Greater St. Mark COGIC in South Memphis is not making more headlines. Dwayne Wilson, the church’s 25-year-old music minister, was charged with statutory rape for having sex with a 16-year-old member of his choir.

But Pastor Ronald Rolfe allowed Wilson to stay in his position. “The word of God teaches us to forgive and to pray,” said Rolfe. “The best thing I can do as a clergyman is to extend God’s hands of forgiveness.” Wilson made “poor choices,” Rolfe said, but told The Commercial Appeal it wasn’t his place to condemn.

Church member Thanessa Bennett told WREG she agrees. “Church is what he needs, he made a mistake,” she said. “I feel that he was wrong, but we forgave him. That’s what the Bible teaches us. We can’t hold anything over his head.”

“The Bible does teach us to forgive,” the girl’s father responded, “but when you break the law of the land, you have a debt to pay.” He told television station WMC, “Having him in a position of leadership says we condone the behavior” and alleged that Wilson has “had one sexual relationship after another since he’s been there.” The family is looking for another church.

Now after a congregational vote, the Commercial Appeal reports that Jurisdictional Bishop Jerry Maynard has been appointed temporary CEO of the church. Rolfe remains pastor. (Wilson was finally dismissed two weeks after he was charged.) Maybe someone familiar with COGIC workings can explain in the comments section the difference between a congregational CEO and a pastor.

This seems to be a fundamentally different dispute than the sex-offender church attendee dispute we recently looked at. But it’s tempting to compare it to the case of Mark Hourigan, who was recently appointed as music minister in Louisville, Kentucky, even though he was convicted of sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy a decade ago. Should offenders be banned from church ministry for the rest of their lives? If not, at what point should they be allowed to minister?

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