BishopAccountability.org
	Greenwich Church Hopes to Restore 'Circle of Trust' By Hoa Nguyen Advocate February 25, 2008 http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-church3feb25,0,6190353.story GREENWICH - Officials at Christ Church Greenwich are searching through old employment files to find any trace of two pedophiles said to have assaulted choirboys when they worked at the church three decades ago. The records have so far yielded no information on the two men, Tim Carpenter, a senior warden at the church, said yesterday. "Nobody knows what the deal is," he said. "This was a rude awakening for us." Former choir director Robert Tate, who last week was sentenced to 51Ú2 years for possessing child pornography, said during his Thursday court hearing that he knowingly hired two pedophiles who molested choirboys at the church 30 years ago. The bombshell admission stunned Carpenter and other Christ Church officials who said they learned of the accusation for the first time at the hearing, adding prosecutors had given them no heads-up and they had no knowledge of any similar accusations. The two rectors who would have been in charge of the church at about the time the men would have worked there have died, leaving behind age-old records that have yielded little information, though officials have pledged to continue their investigation, Carpenter said. "We have no idea about this stuff," he said. "We are committed to trying to figure out what happened 30 years ago." The Episcopal Church instituted stricter employment rules about a decade ago to help protect the parish from criminals, including enacting the "Safe Church Policy" to protect children from being placed in compromising situations. The two men appeared to have worked for the church before those provisions went into effect. With criminal proceedings against Tate now appearing over, church officials said they want to be open and upfront in their dealings, including trying to piece together what happened three decades ago. "We truly want to be transparent," Carpenter said. The Rev. Jim Lemler, the priest-in-charge, likened the experience to being in the wilderness during his Sunday address. "This congregation has been in the wilderness," he said. "The events of this past week, the events of these past 18 months, the events of 20 to 30 years ago are challenging and are real." Lemler, who also preached at a morning adult learning program called "Groundwork: Digging Deep for Change and Growth," said the congregation is responsible for repairing the "circle of trust" that has been broken. "I want us to think about trust, how Christ Church is a community of trust and how much it grieves us and pains us when a circle of trust is broken," he said. "Our challenge and our opportunity is that re-weaving of the circle of trust." Lemler said that unless the church does that, people who might otherwise come to the church may feel unwelcome. "We will be a community that can invite people in," he said. "Candidness and honesty and communication, those are our priorities now." Nick Edwards, a parishioner at Christ Church for 15 years, said the revelations of pedophiles in their midst is surprising because there was never any hint of child molestation or sexual assault occurring. "I had not heard any stories or whispers, and that's encouraging," he said. Edwards said he believes the parish will be able to bounce back from the events. "There's enough of a sense of community here," he said.
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