DALLAS (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
10:46 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 13, 2005
By GRETEL C. KOVACH / The Dallas Morning News
Unless the Rev. Larry Joe Crocker resigns or charges of molesting a boy in his Dallas congregation are dropped, a regional church committee is likely to decide his future in the ministry.
But the committee representing the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Southwest includes a voting member who has admitted to sexual misconduct with a youth, The Dallas Morning News has learned.
Some clergy, parishioners and victims of clergy abuse say the Rev. Dan Carroll's membership on the committee indicates that some Protestant church leaders in Texas are not dealing aggressively with sexual misconduct in their ranks.
Lakeview Christian Church in Dallas could decide to retain Mr. Crocker, the 56-year-old pastor from Garland who was charged last month with two counts of indecency with a child by contact, regardless of police or regional church findings.
But the Southwest region's committee on ministry could revoke his good standing with the denomination, making it harder for him to find a job elsewhere.
Posted by kshaw at April 14, 2005 06:12 AM