Tell Rock Church leadersSex offenders don't belong in the pulpit

Posted: Sept. 5, 2023

In October 2021, Pastor John Blanchard of Rock Church International went to a motel room looking to have sex with someone he thought was an underage girl. It was a sting operation. He was arrested for soliciting sex from a minor, along with 16 other men.

One would think that shameful moment would have marked the end of Blanchard's career in family ministry. Yet after just two years of legal haggling and what the prosecutor's office calls "sex-offender related counseling," Blanchard returned to the stage at his megachurch recently to -- of all things -- bless children from the congregation.

The legal system may have let Blanchard off lightly, but churches have a responsibility to hold those we place in positions of spiritual authority to a higher standard -- and to protect congregants from those who might do them harm.

Let's lift our voices together as Christians and tell the leadership of Rock Church to do their job and protect the megachurch's flock by firing John Blanchard immediately.

Sign the petition:

Dear President of the Rock Ministerial Fellowship Bishop Ann Gimenez and colleagues,

As fellow Christians from across the United States, we are deeply alarmed by your decision to welcome Pastor John Blanchard back to your church's stage, despite the facts that he was arrested for soliciting sex from a minor less than two years ago and that, based on his belligerent efforts to sue his critics, he remains seemingly unrepentant.

While we agree with your statement that condemnation is not our role as believers, we do have a responsibility to one another to hold those in positions of spiritual power to a higher standard -- and to protect the defenseless from those who could do them harm.

John Blanchard is not fit for a position of moral or pastoral leadership at this time. Please take action and remove him from any and all ministerial roles within the Rock Ministerial Fellowship and the Rock Church International immediately.

Thank you.

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