Email from Catherine Rohr
Recently I wrote a post about offering grace to Catherine Rohr and inviting you guys to do the same. It created a great dialogue as you guys jumped on board with the idea. Yesterday, I received an email from Catherine in response to that post and I thought I’d share it with you guys as well as a follow up. This is turning out to be an incredible story and I’m proud to be a part of this type of Church.
Dear Jeremy,
I’m starting to dig out of all of this. I have been scared to look at the internet because of all the things that have been said about me, but I happened to click on your blog and was moved to tears. Thank you for the support and encouragement. It means a lot to me.
I’ve tried to not pay too much attention to the bloggers.
The good news is that the church really is being the church to me. I never expected it. I thought I would be written off by the world. I haven’t. I have felt more loved than ever through this. It has still been the hardest time, but I feel so supported. I am going through a healthy process, and will take time off to rest and continue in my healing. At some point, I hope to start something new. I still have all my passion for this work—and it has been tested.
I have wonderful people around me, coaching me every step of the way.
Thank you for your kind words. Really!
Catherine
Tags: Catherine Rohr, Church
November 11th, 2009 at 2:40 PM
It is almost sad that a show of support had to be posted, in part, to counter the mean things that were said about a fellow believer who had sinned. Doesn’ Paul tell us in Galatians that WHEN someone is caught in sin, those who are spiritual should help restore them. That tells me that at some point every believer willsin and, hopefully, at some point we all will be in a spiritual position to help restore them. It will always be a spiritual give and take, minister and be ministered to. I am gld that Catherine Rohr is in a fellowship that is able to minister to her in her down time. For those who have written her off, or has ever written off someone who had fallen, I pray someone will be there to pick youup when you fall.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:51 AM
How great to hear from Catherine!! It was really kind of her to let you share her email with your readers (thank you, Catherine if you happen to read this. You’re still my hero and I’m still rooting for you and praying for you big time!! : ) I really applaud her for taking the time to heal, process, just be, and learn what it is God wants to teach and show her in this season of her life. And most especially I’m glad to hear The Church is being The Church toward her and just loving and supporting her! That’s awesome and it really does inspire hope that things can be different.
Although I agree with you, Greg about the judging people and the mean-spirited things they’re saying. I just recently read “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a quote from it really speaks to this: “Even when sin and misunderstanding burden the communal life, is not the sinning brother still a brother, with whom I, too, stand under the Word of Christ? Will not his sin be a constant occasion for me to give thanks that both of us live in the forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ? Thus the very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes incomparably salutory, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and Deed which really binds us together—the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ.” The reality is we’re all still growing in grace. We’ll all sin. We’ll all be found lacking at some point in our walk. And we should all be extending love and grace first.
Shouldn’t we take the words to heart that Catherine spoke in a video clip a few years back and extend her the same grace and not let fear and judgment get in the way?!http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/index.php?ct=store.details&pid=V00441
Keep pressing on, Catherine!! : )
Romi´s last blog… Waiting…
December 8th, 2009 at 2:09 PM
I arrived at this site after a long journey from Willow Creek’s site and then good old Google. I’ve been in law enforcement only 2 years, serving at a county jail in Colorado (about 1200 inmates). I know how most male inmates deal with attractive white women. No, I’m not racist or sexist, just the facts. It’s the extreme example of either bravado or naivete for Catherine to think she could walk into a prison and shed her appearance. We are constantly warned of the dangers of manipulative, deceptive inmates who would use us for their own purposes. Apart from a genuine salvation experience and new birth, how can any inmate be anything other than a criminal? In 1 Corinthians 6:11, Paul makes one of his famous sin lists and says “and such WERE some of you…” Certainly all of us prior to new birth WERE one or more of those. PEP’s website freely admits that PEP is not faith-based. That is one of the underlying problems. I’m not doubting Catherine’s sincerity, but why didn’t some wise adviser firmly tell her to stay out the prison and let men do all the teaching and contact? FYI, I’ve been a Christian more than 45 years, have served in nearly all areas of Christian ministry and service, and am an active member in my church in Denver. When Jesus sent the 12 out (Matthew 12:16) he said to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
February 7th, 2010 at 11:26 AM
I agree with the general ideas here,not knowing what occurred exactly except in the simpliest of terms.Every mentoring (dont care for that word,can say teaching) environment that I was around stressed men to men and women to women.I realize after reading this that the website(PEP) doesnt say ‘faith based’ but Rohr says that in her willow creek addresses.Why make a drug dealer a better drug dealer etc.So she was mentoring men,presumably.My experience with a 12 step(recovery bible) mentor was favorable but when i realized that my stronghold was a blinding anger(thank you Rev.Charles Stanley)I found it difficult to get the recovery people to leave me alone.We go to “sin” as a short term fix which gets us deeper into sin.We want to sin since we dont like what god is asking us to do or we just dont think we can do it.
Wall Street is a heady place.All you have to do is look at the time and sales window on the chicago board of trade’s SP 500 futures contract and watch the the 500 units orders go through.Every point movement on the right side of the trade someone is making 25,000 dollars and it often moves many points.
You can look at the prison system as an analyst and say ,ok,here is a resource that is bleeding us instead of enriching our society,which was Rohr’s presentation.Lets get these guys on our side.
If you feel alone,you are making contact with the Holy Spirit.That’s what I believe.And when you do make contact with Him,you dont do the wrong thing,it doesnt occur to you.There are a wealth of other right things That you know to do.You can’t work out your issues by fixing people because at some point ,you have to dig down and find out what your “issue ” is.
“Jimmy” at Willow Creek asked Catherine about this at a church service there which is on youtube.It was ,hey you are in fact an attractive young woman and there is a mass of men there in close proximity.Catherine was put off by the question ,from body language etc.She was ignoring someone this Jimmy,she was rebellious to the preceived affront.
So this is was a disaster in the making.
I find this an interesting story and an appealing personality in Rohr.Life’s blessing are on a time line.
That is something to write down and put on your trading screen.
February 7th, 2010 at 11:31 AM
typo:
“If you fee alone you ARENT making contact with the Holy Spirit.