Should former Jacksonville pastor convicted of sex crimes return to Christian service?

Many wonder if Darrell Gilyard, the former Jacksonville megachurch pastor convicted of sex crimes against minors, will start a new church now that he's finished his three-year prison sentence.

It's a question bloggers and their readers have been asking since before Gilyard's Dec. 28 release from state prison.

It's also a question Gilyard is asking himself.

"I'm not sure - I'm just praying about my options right now," Gilyard told the Times-Union.

It's a question some feel strongly should be answered with a "no."

One of them is Rod Hendrix, a Jacksonville preacher who used to worship at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church when Gilyard was its pastor - and where he committed some of his crimes.

"Biblically he's disqualified," said Hendrix, pastor of Word of Life Community Church in Jacksonville. "That's without a shadow of a doubt."

Legally it's not so clear. Gilyard is serving three years probation, which, as a registered sexual offender, prohibits him from working directly or indirectly with minors, according to state law. He also cannot work in any business that caters to children, such as a day-care center.

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City ordinances prohibit him from residing within 250 feet of a school or other place where children regularly congregate, such as a school or day-care center.

Nothing bars him from leading a church or other ministry if the congregation will have him.

Gilyard was a nationally known preacher who had been groomed by some of the biggest names in the Southern Baptist Convention. First Baptist Church Pastor Jerry Vines and Paige Patterson, a Texas seminary president, had groomed him. He had preached once on the Rev. Jerry Falwell's television ministry and another time from the pulpit of the denomination's annual convention.

But sexual improprieties dogged Gilyard's ministry, and in 2009 he was convicted for fondling one teenage girl and sending sexually explicit messages to another.

Gilyard said he takes responsibility for his wrongs but believes his sinful past isn't a disqualification from preaching or other kinds of ministry. If it were, he said, some of the Bible's most inspiring personalities would never have made it into Scripture.

"Moses was a murderer, David was a murderer, Paul was a murderer and Peter denied Christ," Gilyard said. "It's clear God uses broken vessels."

Hendrix sees it differently. He said the New Testament is clear that Christian leaders are to be people of integrity. Gilyard's conviction plus his admission to impregnating a woman during a counseling session does not fit Apostolic requirements for spiritual leadership.

"We are not to be sinless, but must have a reputation of being godly," Hendrix said. "And when I lose that reputation, I'm disqualified from ministry."

Tiffany Thigpen Croft, who followed Gilyard's sexual improprieties on her blog, "Let's Stop Pastor Darrell Gilyard Together," has yet to issue such a strongly worded opposition to Gilyard's possible re-entry into ministry.

Her most recent post, on Dec. 4, only warns readers of his impending release and discusses how most child sex offenders repeat their actions.

"I pray that there has been some sort of progress and that somehow he has allowed God to intervene," she said on the blog.

The Times-Union was unable to reach Croft for comment.

Gilyard said there has been progress and predicted more. He said he is embarking on years of court-ordered therapy and that he faced his transgressions while in prison.

He emphasized that he has not decided to start a church but said that he sees spiritual service in his future.

"It's just a matter of healing mentally, psychologically and spiritually. I believe God can use me."

jeff.brumley@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4310