As a bit of an update to to this post, and in answer to a question someone had, here is more information about the charming Hugh Cranford, the lovely Lutheran youth paster in Topeka who likes liturgical positions that give him access to children. His former place of "vicarage" was Concordia, in Saint Louis, Missouri. The final outcome of pending matters against Cranford there is unclear; but the whole disgusting matter is still quite recent, and the wheels of our justice system have a reputation for turning slowly at times. He was ousted from their church and school in the summer of 2011.
Something that should concern the Luthern community in Topeka Kansas is this, according to the Capitol Journal, "Dale Meyer, president of the seminary, said Monday after hearing about the allegations in early June the seminary immediately suspended the vicarage and prevented Cranford from enrolling in any other classes.
Meyer also said the alleged incidents didn’t take place at Faith Lutheran Church or Topeka Lutheran School. He said they also had no word that the alleged incidents took place on the seminary’s campus." Now; who cares WHERE his alleged assaults on children took place? The deal is this: parents were told by the church that they could trust this man with their children. As it happened, they could not. The information was readily available through a criminal background check AND through a reference check. This, apparently, was not performed. Now the church wants to distance itself from any responsibility in the matter at all. Someone at the church may have even given Hugh Cranford the information that charges were being filed, and assisted him in leaving town before law enforcement could find him. It's entirely possible. Hugh Cranford is still at large, and Dale Meyer is more concerned with damage control than with child safety. This is why I do not allow my children at attend Christian churches in Kansas. It's dangerous.
Something that should concern the Luthern community in Topeka Kansas is this, according to the Capitol Journal, "Dale Meyer, president of the seminary, said Monday after hearing about the allegations in early June the seminary immediately suspended the vicarage and prevented Cranford from enrolling in any other classes.
Meyer also said the alleged incidents didn’t take place at Faith Lutheran Church or Topeka Lutheran School. He said they also had no word that the alleged incidents took place on the seminary’s campus." Now; who cares WHERE his alleged assaults on children took place? The deal is this: parents were told by the church that they could trust this man with their children. As it happened, they could not. The information was readily available through a criminal background check AND through a reference check. This, apparently, was not performed. Now the church wants to distance itself from any responsibility in the matter at all. Someone at the church may have even given Hugh Cranford the information that charges were being filed, and assisted him in leaving town before law enforcement could find him. It's entirely possible. Hugh Cranford is still at large, and Dale Meyer is more concerned with damage control than with child safety. This is why I do not allow my children at attend Christian churches in Kansas. It's dangerous.
Hugh Cranford, without his Neo-Nazi beard.
26 comments:
"This is why I do not allow my children at attend Christian churches in Kansas. It's dangerous."
Since public school teachers do the same, and doctors, I assume your children don't attend school and won't ever go to the hospital/doctor office. A banker in my town molested a child, so perhaps you should pull your money out of the bank. Your logic to condemn all churches because of evil people is irrational.
I disagree. Yes, public school teachers have done simplar stuff, about that, there is no doubt. Everywhere in this country that I have lived, (I am not native to Kansas) background checks have been required and performed since the late 80's and early 90's for anyone who takes a position involving extended contact with children. Kansas is the only place it is not required. Yes, I am extreemly watchful of what goes on my my childrens' school. In order to make up for the almost deliberate failings of the Kansas school district involved, I have to always be on the alert. Every time I have had to take one of my kids to the hospital for one reason or other, I have always stayed with them. And that included the nicu for one of my kids. If a parent is present, watching, and cares, the child tends to be treated better. As for the bank......I am really not concerned if my money has a sexual fling with a bank employee. Perhaps it will reproduce.
People in churches that are not Christian are always, and sometimes hatefully, scrutinized by Kansans. That is why I cannot volunteer to help with Cross Country. The school was not even interested in doing a background check on me; they could not get past my Mediterranean features and my perceived accent. Kansans are nasty and prejudiced. Yet, a teacher at the school rents his house, less than a block away from the school, to a sex offender! The teacher is a Christian, and howls about Republican crap all the time. Some who is Hindu, Taoist, Muslim, Jewish, or Pagan is not welcome to even attend school functions unharrassed, but someone who is a good Christian sex offender can sit down and hold the children on his lap during lunch hour. Christian churches are even scarier. After all the propaganda about priests, I will never join one.
Doesnt this say that he stopped working there right when all thia happened? Maybe im missing something. "Dale Meyer, president of the seminary, said Monday after hearing about the allegations in early June the seminary immediately suspended the vicarage and prevented Cranford from enrolling in any other classes."
I mean cut the guys balls of if this is true but i don't see where he had anything on a background check that would have showed up. Like doesnt this say that as soon as this came to light he stopped working there? If that isnt the case im pretty angry too.
You know; it's really not terribly clear. It's a bit more clear that he was relieved of his position in St. Louis, but not clear if he was ever arrested there. The church was required, BY LAW, to report sexual abuse of a minor.
He has family in Texas. From everything I have read so far, it looks like Wednesday of last week is when police decided to charge him, and someone called him in Texas to let him know. And Texas is where he is right now. Do you suppose he will come back to Kansas and straighten all this out?
He was suspended in June of 2012 from the seminary after the allegations surface in June of 2012. He was no longer allowed at the church after the allegations surfaced.
Everything you describe happened in Missouri, in 2011. What happened in June of 2012 in Topeka is a little less clear. I think he was still allowed in the church in Topeka after the allegations surfaced. But hopefully, Kansas will care enough to fetch him from Texas and we will hear more.
Are you referring to information not in the Cap Journal article? The way I read the information below is that he started his vicarage in Topeka in July of 2011 from Concordia Seminary and then was suspended in June of 2012 after the allegations. Not worded the best by the Cap Journal in my opinion.
"He began his vicarage at Faith Lutheran Church, 1716 S.W. Gage, on July 24, 2011, but was suspended by Concordia Seminary in June after allegations of misconduct.
Dale Meyer, president of the seminary, said Monday after hearing about the allegations in early June the seminary immediately suspended the vicarage and prevented Cranford from enrolling in any other classes."
There was also an article in WIBW that was shorter, but better worded. He left St. Louis in July of 2011, and the church in Topeka heard about his history in June of 2012.
Either those journalists are not very good with English, or they try harder than they should to protect people who are in traditional "good person" roles. When else would a sex offender get such a non-inflamatory article written about him?
He 'left' St. Louis, where Concordia is based (as well as his previous 'fieldwork' church), in order to go to another town on 'vicarage' in July of 2011, as part of the educational program. In June of 2012, *when* the charges surfaced, he was 'immediately' suspended.
And, for the record, background checks are required of all vicars, both for the vicarage itself and for other classes taken before vicarage.
He is not a pastor. Had he returned, completed classes, and graduated from the Concordia program in May of 2013, he would have become a pastor. But as he is barred from classes, that will not happen. So, for the sake of journalistic integrity, please do not refer to him as a 'pastor' or say that he was kicked out of Concordia and then placed in a church, because both are false.
"Fieldwork"? The charges "surfaced"? That's truly better than anything I was thinking of writing! Okay, okay; I don't have to refer to him as a pastor. As a person who does not belong to a Christian church, and just watches Christians interact with one another and the community at large from a distance, I do not always draw a distinction between "pastor", "priest", "minister", "vicar", or "reverend". It was my understanding that "reverend" is actually just a title, rather than a job, anyway.
Welll...after watching the video about the trash collector and listening to Harry Chapin's banana song, today, I think that: Some honorable folks should just roll around our communities and pick up pervs, throw'em in the back of the trucks, squish them down with those garbage-squazhing gizmos and then take them down to selected landfills and dump them in a pile...wherein the pulverized pedophiles would eventually create...30,000 pounds of mashed molesters.
Can you believe the fact that there are people who have jumped on my blog just to defend this creep?
No one i think is defending any actions. Simply interested parties making sure all the facts are clear. If these alegations are true then they should be punished to the full extent of the law. But there is nothing to indicate that he left a church. He was a student on an internship. So there have been no charges or allegations from any party besides the current ones. He had gone throgh extenensice background checks if any allegations in any lcms church arose then they would have been addressed with equal attention from this very closely knit church body.
Please. 11 months before anything is said? Sure.
He does not have to leave a church....he simply has to switch to a different location.
Christians in general have a very nasty habit of tolerating and enabling sexual abuse and sexual assault. Bishop Robert Finn, also of Missouri, is a prime example. He actually went as far as hiding evidence from police (a computer loaded with kiddie porn created by a priest in one of his parishes) when they asked for that specific evidence! Yes...Christians go out of their way to make sure that sexual abuse still has a viable venue within church.
Here's a fact that I think should be cleared up: the police in Topeka Kansas have a warrent for the arrest of the allegedly defrocked Rev. Cranford, yet...Rev. Cranford remains in Texas. Is anyone planning on fetching him? Or are the good Christian Lutheran folk of Kansas and Missouri going to just tell them, "Sorry....we were never terribly interested in justice. We just go to church for political and social reasons."?
Maybe those writing on your blog were looking for more information on a story they had heard about that affects them in some way, but they were taken back by your uninformed outlash. I can't think of anyone who would oppose you on your belief that such treatments of children by adults are utterly wrong. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. I would hope that we are all agreed.
It is also important on a very different level, which has substantially less at stake than said treatments of a child, that one gets their facts straight before posting a tirade against a body of people based on one individual's actions. If one is unsure of facts it would be better to remain quiet or at least qualify their statements with a disclaimer that they haven't been given first hand information. It is unfair and careless to make assessments regarding a church body based on one person's actions. Is it possible you read into this story beyond its actual content what you wanted to in order to feed you prejudices? That's up to you to deal with, but if you decide to do so in the future, at the very least, do a little more research on the topic you are discussing, or instead blog inquisitively that you might gain understanding and knowledge about that which you are passionately for or against and then be honest with yourself and others about why you feel a certain way.
If you judge an entire group by one person's actions there would be absolutely no one to trust ever. We are all human, as are perpetrators of these terrible acts, yet you likely still have some people whom you trust regardless of their being human. This was the framework of the church that this individual was placed at. Up until the point of the incident, the individual had proven himself trustworthy, including under going a criminal background. As soon as that trust was brought into question, steps by the church, the seminary, and the larger church body were taken to see that this would not occur again.
I will not vouch for the innocence, nor the guilt of this person, because I myself as you do not know all the facts. It is possible the individual is guilty as charged, and it is also possible that the accusations are a fabricated story. I appreciate your call for justice. I am offended by your hastiness in getting ahead of justice as if the verdict has been reached.
He could actually not have done any switching. All of these pastors are part of a very small highly communicative church body. I dont think anyone in the lutheran church is hiding the guy. It sounds as if you are alleging a vast cover up when in fact the opposite, a completely transiparent chain of events have taken place. This is more of a systemic problem than a religious one. Look at boyscouts of america.
All of you have received the message from Dr. Dale Meyer regarding the charges brought against fellow Seminarian Hugh Cranford as well as the follow up message from Eric Ekong, Student Association President.
I join them in asking all of you to keep all involved in your prayers. In situations like this there are obviously many different reactions. Some of you might find yourselves in a judgmental mode. Others of you are hurting because Hugh is a friend.
However you might feel, I would encourage you, if you feel the need to work out those feelings, to give me a call so that we can sit down together and work for some type of healing.
Chaplain Stein
Sent for Chaplain Stein by Michelle Christ Executive Assistant to Dale A. Meyer President Concordia Seminary
Why would you call me uninformed? Because I have not been close enough to a Christian minister to see his....oh never mind! Ordnarily, I would not judge an entire group, but the Catholic Church has been getting away with this stuff for years, the Vatican has covered for them. Penn State, the Seventh Day Adventist Church, quite a few neoprotestant born-again, churches, too. Lets not forget about Warren Jeffs, the Mormon bishop who is in prison becuase he likes little girls so much.......face it; Christians have serious problems in determining with whom to have sexual relations!!!!!!
Are you double triple SURE this person had proven himself as "trustworthy" up until now? Because I am not. And I think there's gonna be evidence dating from at least a year ago in this case. How much time do you wanna take in determing his guilt or innocence? Long enough for him to bang one more kid? Two? Three? A dozen? How many children do you want to sacrifice for Jesus, and if Jesus was not aprt of the picture, would it be okay to go ahead and call this guy "scum" like most of us call other creeps who molest children? Because I don't see Jesus in church, and I don't see Jesus here. I see a person who has been charged with a serious crime hiding out in another state!
Do they communicate as well as Catholic priests communicate with the Vatican?
When someone who is not a Christian rapes a child, the church does not attempt to protect that person, but when a creepy-assed Christian leader rapes a child, the church sits in denial and protects the person, while he rapes more children. We could solve the "systemic" problem by discouraging respect for Christian churches.
What's wrong with telling everyone straight-up that Hugh is NOT a "friend", and that denial is counterproductive to justice, and that Hugh's victims are more important than anyone's widdle feelin's about friendship with Hugh?
They do communicate much better than the world wide catholic church. With only two seminaries amd 30 some.odd districts in the country they actually are a very closely knit group. It is clear that your interests do not lie in finding truth but in spewing vile inflamitory rhetoric. Valuable lesson learned. Dont argue on the internet for the same reason you dont wrestle with pigs. You get dirty and they just have fun.
But you speak of him leaving one church and joining another as if it were because of a prior offense. That would not have happened. You're imposing narratives from the Catholic clergy abuse scandal on something completely different.
In order for a student to go on vicarage, he *has* to leave the congregation in St. Louis and switch to a different one. Every student does it. It's part of the program. It's not a pastor hopping from one church to another. It's a student going from one location as a student, and moving to another city to work as an intern.
None of us are defending his actions. If he did them, they are reprehensible. We're only asking you to speak accurately on the facts of the matter. He is not a pastor (Vicar in the Lutheran Church simply means intern - it doesn't have the same meaning as in England), he is not a 'Reverend' (that is a title you receive after graduating - and he won't be graduating), and he did not get 'transfered' from one church to another in order to cover up abuses (he simply moved to a church that trains vicars - which all vicars must do).
Last Sunday, the reading in church included, "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck." Scripture takes the abuse of children seriously. It is a grave offense. In fact, I thank you for your work in bringing light to the abuses that do occur. Within the Christian faith, we call that the prophetic element of the faith - calling things, people, and institutions out when they are in need of reproof. It's a vital part of the work and health of the Church, and I apologize if Christians or Christianity as a whole has given the impression that it would be better to whitewash reality than confess sins when they occur.
I'm not sure where you are based, but October is Domestic Violence Month and churches throughout the country are banding together to increase awareness and take a stand against abuses of all types (physical, sexual, and emotional). I would encourage you to find a nearby church or organization that is taking this important stand, as this seems to be a topic you are passionate about. I plan to give my full support as well.
According to both meida sources, an incident actually DID take place in Missouri. But then, the police in KANSAS are looking for him! Why would the police in KANSAS serve him with paperwork for something that happened in Missouri???? Of course I think two incidents happened!!! Probably more!
If I speak this way about the Unabomber, or Osama Bin Laden, it's not "inflamatory". But it's not okay for me to discuss Christian liturgical scum as if it were scum. Gee! Hypocritical much?
I am sorry if the truth inflames you a bit. I really don't care how well they communicate; it obviously was not well enough to stop this man from harming children. Wouldn't it be better to retructure Christianity a bit, and get rid of the pedestals upon which those leaders are placed?
Don't ever come here and tell me what my interests are again. Yours are obviously to defend people who harm others and make sure the violent ones don't suffer as much as the victims have to suffer. And you obviously want to convince the rest of us that victims of scum like this Lutheran minister did not really suffer, and that it does not matter. And if you succeed, the Christian church, as a whole, will continue to be a safe place for perverts. My interest is in minimizing the number of places this can keep happening.
Why are the posters here not asking Juli the real question... Juli, what is your religion and who do you worship? (Just check out her profile). Posters, why are you arguing with the enemy? Exercise your authority! I just prayed to Jesus Christ for Juli to know Him as Rescuer and Lord and if she rebelliously refuses for Him to dismantle her blog!
btw & fyi... I stumbled on to this blog looking for more info on the man in the spotlight as he was in our church recently and we are proactively taking the steps to protect our children, in addition to the background checks and interviews that are already administered diligently and liberally.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. Jesus Christ from Mark 9:42
There's not a full moon tonight; I am not sure what inspired you. Here:
http://siriunsun.blogspot.com/2013/03/some-christian-wants-jesus-to-dismantle.html
Post a Comment