Banned From Church

[MJS]

A church has banned a womans 13yo autistic son from attending mass, because they claim that he is too disruptive.

Link

BERTHA, Minn. - Carol Race thinks it's important for her 13-year-old son to be in church on Sundays for Catholic Mass.
Leaders of the Church of St. Joseph once felt the same way, but not anymore. They say Race's autistic son Adam is disruptive and his erratic behavior threatens the safety of other parishioners.
The northern Minnesota church has obtained a restraining order to keep Adam away, an action that has been deeply hurtful to the Race family and has brought them support from parents of other autistic children.

Now, every church that I've been in, has had a room in the rear of the church, usually designated for people who have small kids with them. The family can still attend mass, but in the event a baby were to start crying, it would be isolated to that room.

In this case, I can't see how someone can be banned from going to church. The church is claiming that the 13yo is out of control, while the boys mother disputes the claims. The church went so far, as to get a restraining order, preventing him from entering.

Thoughts on this?

 

[OnlyAnEgg]

This topic went on for a while here.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

A church has banned a womans 13yo autistic son from attending mass, because they claim that he is too disruptive.

Link




Now, every church that I've been in, has had a room in the rear of the church, usually designated for people who have small kids with them. The family can still attend mass, but in the event a baby were to start crying, it would be isolated to that room.

In this case, I can't see how someone can be banned from going to church. The church is claiming that the 13yo is out of control, while the boys mother disputes the claims. The church went so far, as to get a restraining order, preventing him from entering.

Thoughts on this?

My wife recently told me of a church that banned a 70 year old long time parishioner from going. They sought a restraining order and when she appeared in church the priest called the police. (two times) Apparently she and some other members were banned because they did not necessarily agree with the priests views.

These types of incidents do absolutely no good for any church. For the autistic child above it should be absolutely no problem as MJS said for the mother to take him to a room. Every chuch seems to have this and parents utilize it when needed. Maybe the mom just needed some coaching but not to have her child banned.

Where is the Christian love in that action?

 

[punisher73]

There was a previous thread, but it did come to light that there was more to the story than they were saying.

Here is part of my post from the last one.

In the article it states the child's size as a determining factor. The child in this case is the size of a professional football player, OVER 6 foot tall and 235 lbs. It also alleges that he "struck" one child and has run through the church almost knocking down elderly people. Also, the church did this as a LAST resort. The parents have been unwilling to make any type of compromise in the matter.

At what point do you keep letting the child attend when the parents can't control him and are unwilling to bend on alternative arrangements and he poses a risk to the safety of others?

If the church had made NO attempt to work with them then shame on them, but they did try to work with the family.

Again, it wasn't the church just wanting to ban the boy, the family has been unwilling to work with the church and use a seperate room with the service played in it that the church offered.

 

[shesulsa]

Yeah, as I said in the other thread, both parties need to be reasonable. If the parents are unreasonable then I totally understand the church needing to take specific action.

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

I heard if you get banned from Church you turn into a Vampire.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

No, that was in folklore where once turned, a vampire couldn't go onto sanctified ground( of course, that was a Victorian idea and in actual legend they go where they want when they want......)

 

[thardey]

No, that was in folklore where once turned, a vampire couldn't go onto sanctified ground( of course, that was a Victorian idea and in actual legend they go where they want when they want......)

"Actually I am quite fond of looking at crucifixes."- Louis from "Interview with the Vampire"

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

http://www.ehow.com/how_7704_become...ce=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

Travel back in time to the Greece of several centuries ago, where people who were excommunicated from the church were considered good vampire candidates.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

http://www.ehow.com/how_7704_become...ce=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

Travel back in time to the Greece of several centuries ago, where people who were excommunicated from the church were considered good vampire candidates.

All that research and I stone cold forgot about the story of the Vrykolakas of Pyrgos. I stand corrected!

 

[Kacey]

And then, here is the flip side, where all parties work together to create a reasonable compromise:

Faith in a non-verbal world

Last week, Josh came to the Torah himself for the saying of the Sh'ma, a Hebrew declaration of faith and allegiance to God, and D'var Torah, a commentary on the Torah. It was all done with a 21st-century technological twist - a PowerPoint presentation narrated by his siblings.
...
So that's when Gateways decided to "get creative," scheduling the bar mitzvah for a Thursday afternoon at the same time and in the same classroom where Josh attended classes for the past year, said the program's executive director, Arlene Remz. The same tutors and classmates he'd come to know would be in attendance. Another familiar face, Hebrew College rabbinical student Hannah Gershon, would officiate, and Gateways program coordinator Nancy Mager would guide Josh in leading the congregation in prayer - with a little help from a laptop.
There was not a dry eye in the house as the ceremony progressed. Josh's non-Jewish grandfather, William Connolly, burst into happy tears while reading words from "The Priestly Blessing" in English: "My God smile upon you and give you peace."
...
Josh's bar mitzvah may have been nontraditional, but it hit the high points of the ancient ritual, including the prayers, opening the ark, and removing and reading parts of the revered Torah, or Jewish scripture.