A special "HMH" Conference series
 

UPC churches in Missouri, Texas and Rhode Island have announced "HMH Conferences" beginning this fall.

"HMH???" I guess DAII's crusade has taken root so deeply that even the mothership now advertises these things as "HMH Conferences."

http://tiny.cc/iqi2z

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

On a sadder and much more serious, troubling note: The web poll there asks what types of issues the attendees would like to see discussed - so far, the overwhelming majority have selected "Childhood Sexual Abuse."

Maybe it's time to stop casting stones at the Catholic Church on this one and past time that we started to deal with this issue ourselves.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

... misleading, Pel!

And your point about the abuse is saddening.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

Yeah with 61 total votes and no inkling of why the responder chose that answer...yeah let's make that conclusion...;)

Oh and "Family and Parenting" is a mere 6 votes behind...whom are we ever going to blame for that. :)

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

Well, I've no idea the extent of the problem, but you're burying your head in the sand if you don't think it's an issue.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

I agree that we need to deal with these issues and not sweep things under the rug! However, publicly exposing molestation and abuse in a flamboyant way isn't always in the best interest of the victim, either. Witch-hunts tend to end up with innocent people being burned at the stake.

I've heard about this conference, and I've only heard good things so far. I was also told that a couple of the classes had very few attendees, because of the sensitive subject matter. Regardless, I hope they persist because we have hurting people in our churches, and most people are unprepared to deal with their pain.

I wouldn't agree with any implication that we have an epidemic of child molesters in positions of leadership in the Apostolic church, on a scale similar to the CC. There are isolated cases, unfortunately, in every denomination.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

So...let me make sure I understand this correctly...childhood sexual abuse is now the going thing in the UPC ranks, or by insinuation, what has been going on and far outranks and other spiritual or natural matter based on a website poll? Awesome.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

It is a big issue in society, and as such also runs over into the church. Do a poll and ask how many women were molested as children. Ask how many were molested by someone who was "saved". I bet the results would surprise you.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

Many folks who become followers of Christ as adults were abused and molested as children by family and so called friends not necessarily by church folk. The poll doesn't say that child abuse is a direct result of UPC ministers.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

No one said it was the "going thing", OR that the perpetrators were all Apostolic. :rolleyes2 But are there lots of people who have been molested? Statistically, the answer would be a very confident "Yes." E.g., they're dealing with issues that the church could address, with a little education and a lot of compassion.

Are you unaware that there are people in your church that have probably experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, been victims of incest or rape, or may have struggled with homosexuality? According to some recent statistics reported on our local news channel, 1 out of 4 girls attending public schools are molested by either a peer or a teacher sometime during their school years. 25%. That is a HUGE number. I think the statistic for boys was around 1 in 6/7, but I can't recall--it was equally shocking to me.

HMH conferences are meant to help people deal with personal pain and struggles; not cast aspersions on the Apostolic church.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

I understand that completely. Not breaking any correlation between abuse and church.

If I misinterpreted Pel's reference to "the mothership" and then his reference to the poll, accept my humble apologies.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

Two different UPC churches that I attended had persons in leadership that molested children from church. I do have to say, though, that in these instances there was no cover-up. Both men went to jail.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

The unfortunate circumstances that led to the notorious crimes in the RCC were probably worsened by the fact that Catholic clergy must remain unmarried and the fact that only a priest may perform most of the institution's rites. Thus, there was compelling motivation to try and "rehabilitate" the sinful and criminal element coupled with the fact that many antisocial types might be drawn to that ministry as well.

It was almost like a "perfect storm."

I never sought to compare the criminals among the RCC clergy with "UPC ministers..." in fact, I never even mentioned UPC ministers.

I started the thread to sort of tweak DAII's use of the "HMH" tag line and the coincidental fact that these conferences have the same acronym. That sort of jumped out at me and I thought that it was funny. As I continued to look at the site and I pulled up the poll results, I saw something that wasn't very funny at all.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

pel is right. It's not funny. It happens way to often... And yes, sometimes even by ministers in Pentecostal churches.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

You're cool TrmptPraise. My opening salvo was at first intended to be a pot stirrer - and then I saw the poll and felt badly. My subsequent post was probably more of a somber muttering and not an indictment of anyone.

It was a pretty uneven way to open a thread. I suppose that's why most of my threads fail horribly. And, FWIW - I have family that speaks at these conferences on some of the other painful topics. We have clashed over the "Hair" thing and probably always will, but they have my unqualified support.

I just couldn't get past the list of speakers and the repeated tag line" "HMH Conference." It was like they were doing it on purpose.

Of course, my amusement over that pun should in no way detract from the very real issues that these ladies are grappling with. They are actually at the forefront - on the cutting edge of something that is vitally needed - I just wish they'd all drop the "uncut hair and angels as talismans to ward off evil" thing. None of the speakers were spared pain in their lives because of their uncut hair.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

If I'm cool, so are you. :) I knew where you were going with the original post and was fine with that...actually thought it was funny. When I read the second post I connected dots that weren't necessarily intended to be.

I have to admit I was disappointed how many people wanted to hammer me for being insensitive to the issue. Perhaps I should never start a thread either... ;)

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

The cherubim on the ark were hammered too - that's what made them beautiful to look at. :thumbsup

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

Are you two related or something?

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

Everything appears more beautiful when you are hammered... just sayin jkjk

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

We're brothers.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

I wish all cons and libs could get along like you two bfam's.

Re: A special "HMH" Conference series
 

Thats quite a compliment...thanks...lol