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Bishop Hoover (left) and Pastor Wenrich

By Susan Hogan
© Pretty Good Lutherans

A panel is recommending that a Pennsylvania pastor who admitted to sexual misconduct “retire immediately,” according to source involved in the case.

If the recommendations are approved, Pastor Alan C. Wenrich will remain on the ELCA roster and retain retirement benefits, the source said. In addition, he may be reconsidered for a pastoral appointment again in two years.

After being arrested in 2009, Wenrich admitted to soliciting sex from a woman he counseled in his home. At the time, he served Zion Lutheran Church in Hummelstown, Pa.

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Bishop B. Penrose Hoover, left, and Pastor Alan Wenrich, right

© Pretty Good Lutherans

The fate of a predatory ELCA pastor is now in the hands of the bishop who recently reinstated him to ministry, according to a report in the York Daily Record.

According to ELCA guidelines, Bishop P. Penrose Hoover gets to decide whether or not to follow an advisory committee’s recommendations regarding the pastor. Hoover serves the Lower Susquehanna Synod.

After being arrested in 2009, Pastor Alan C. Wenrich admitted to soliciting sex from a woman he counseled. Penrose reinstatated Wenrich to ministry this year after the pastor completed a “rehabilitation” program.

To protest the bishop’s action and unilateral decision-making, 16 ELCA pastors then filed charges against Wenrich. The bishop established an advisory panel to look into the matter.

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Bishop Hoover, left, and Pastor Wenrich

© Pretty Good Lutherans

While serving an ELCA church in Pennsylvania, Pastor Alan Wenrich ran a professional counseling service out of his home. Last year, he was arrested for soliciting a client for sex.

The case never went to trial because the prosecutor’s office allowed Wenrich to instead enter a “rehabilitation” program. Now, having completed the program, Wenrich’s criminal record has been expunged, according to the York (Pa.) Daily Record.

Victims’ advocates say that prosecutors are still reluctant to take clergy perpetrators to court, despite sweeping reports about their sex crimes. In the majority of cases, white clergy from Catholic and mainline Protestant denominations seldom serve prison time, studies show.

Recently, Bishop B. Penrose Hoover of the Lower Susquehanna Synod allowed Wenrich, a friend and colleague, to return to parish ministry, the York Daily Record said. The bishop’s decision did not sit well with some church members.

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Bishop B. Penrose Hoover, left, and Pastor Alan Wenrich

Update #2 (11 p.m. 6/27): Even with new charges filed against him by the 16 clergy, Bishop B. Penrose Hoover continues to allow Pastor Alan Wenrich to lead congregational worship. See the 6/27 story from the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

Update #1 (6:30 p.m. 6/16): The York Daily Herald has now released a story about the charges filed by the pastors. The story is by veteran religion reporter Melissa Nann Burke.

By Susan Hogan
© Pretty Good Lutherans

Sixteen pastors from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are challenging their bishop’s decision to return an admitted predatory pastor to parish ministry.

The pastors filed ecclesiastical charges today against Pastor Alan Wenrich, who was arrested last year for soliciting one of his female counseling clients for sex in exchange for money.

A letter and document containing the charges were delivered to the office of Bishop B. Penrose Hoover in Harrisburg, Penn. Hoover, who serves the ELCA’s Lower Susquehanna Synod, recently allowed Wenrich to take a position serving Trinity Evangelical Lutheran on Rolleston Street in Harrisburg.

Leaders of the synod could not be reached for comment.

In filing charges against Wenrich, the 16 pastors were following the few avenues they have in the ELCA Constitution for possibly removing a pastor from ministry. The Constitution requires that 10 pastors signatures are needed to file charges against another pastor.

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© Pretty Good Lutherans

A year ago, members of Zion Lutheran Church in Hummelstown, Pa., woke up to the news that their pastor had been arrested.

The Rev. Alan Curtis Wenrich was charged with “patronizing prostitutes” and for solicitation of prostitutes, according to the police report.

ELCA Pastor Alan Wenrich

“He admitted his guilt to me,” Bishop B. Penrose Hoover recently told Pretty Good Lutherans. Hoover leads the ELCA’s Lower Susquehanna Synod in Pennsylvania.

Soon after his arrest, Wenrich, who is married, resigned his post at the Hummelstown church. Yet he remains on the ELCA clergy roster. His status is listed as “on leave.”

When asked why Wenrich is still a pastor, Hoover said: ”Because his misconduct did not rise to the level of sexual misconduct as we define it. It was solicitation, not the act of sex.”

Pretty Good Lutherans then asked: “So a woman has to allow a pastor to have sex with her before the ELCA considers his behavior sexual misconduct?”

The bishop responded: “I think this conversation needs to end.” Then he hung up the phone.

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