BishopAccountability.org
	Pastor Could Lose Job over Husband's Sex Offense Church Solutions May 27, 2009 http://www.churchsolutionsmag.com/hotnews/pastor-could-lose-job-husband-sex-offense.html A Maryland Methodist pastor who concealed her husband's sex-related conviction is currently suspended and could lose her job. Helen Smith, who has been on leave since January, has led Benevola United Methodist Church in Boonsboro, Md., for 15 years, but when a congregant discovered her 57-year-old husband's listing on Maryland's sex-offender registry, her future came into question. The husband, David Smith, has worked in music ministry at the church, though supposedly he never worked with children. He was convicted of sexual abuse in July 2008 after the couple's grown daughter brought forth charges that her father sexually abused her between the ages of 5 and 12. United Methodist churches have a safe sanctuary policy that requires a pastor to report information about any church member convicted of a crime against children.
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