The Chilliwack Progress from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada • Page 8

A8 THE CHILLIWACK PROGRESS, Wednesday, December 25, 1991 Power balance must change And this may Church member fights against a gag order lead to revising the power structure between men and women, revising the traditional roles prescribed 1 warns. 1 The traditional I Hi 1 1 i i At. any segment of society, Thiessen said. Still, pockets of the religious community refuse to see that abuse does exist, Thiessen said. "The reality is very difficult to accept.

It's the secrecy and denial that is the most potentially dangerous thing. That's why it's so important that those family secrets are revealed and dealt with. The tendency is to deny but we're not in the position to do that anymore." Part of the problem is that incest, sexuality, physical and emotional abuse were not accepted as part of the reality of religious communities, including the Mennonite community. Rather than be afraid of these issues, church communities should learn how to deal with them. by Christina Toth Women are being held prisoner in dysfunctional relationships because no one wants to admit how destructive abuse is, says a Mennonite councellor.

Vange Thiessen has been a family counsellor at the Columbia Christian Counselling Group in Clearbrook for little more than a year. In that time, she has worked with dozens of women, many of whom are affiliated with a church, who have experienced some type of sexual or physical abuse in their lives. The abusers are often church-going family members. Recent studies of Mennonite communities in Manitoba show that physical and sexual abuse is as much in the church community as it is in I often leads women ATm. I to depend on others, usually her husband or pastor, to know what to do, think and feel.

"Religious teaching has often been distorted and misinterpreted. Jesus makes it very clear he wanted freedom for the oppressed, including inside marriage. I believe it is not God's will to keep us in oppressive situations." fT7r Eben-Ezer Church in Abbotsford is involved in a dispute with a member over the handling of Walter Rempel's sex charges. After Sale GnusntA By Paul Bucci Staff Reporter An Abbotsford man has sought legal help in getting his rights reinstated after the Eben-Ezer Men-nonite Church barred him from speaking or voting at congregational meetings. John Thiessen, a retired poultry farmer who has attended Eben-Ezer for more than 20 years, was banned from speaking after he protested the church council's actions in regard to convicted sex offender Walter Aaron Rempel.

Rempel was allowed to continue his duties in the church, including working with children, even though he was charged with four sex offences in June of last year, Thiessen said. Thiessen, 65, has written a series of letters to three Mennonite governing bodies protesting his treatment at the hands of the church. He gave church authorities until last Friday to answer some of his concerns. Thiessen hasn't received a reply yet. Thiessen alleges that the church council, under the direction of Rudy Nickel, worded a resolution in such a way that parishioners unwittingly voted to allow Rempel to continue pastoring, when in fact they thought they were forgiving him for his indescretions.

Abbotsford lawyer Wayne Nor-ris said the church council launched a "witch hunt" when a member of the congregation, thought to be a grandmother of a child under Rempel's supervision, contacted the press. Thiessen said the strain of going against the church council's wishes has hurt him and his family. "It's had a tremendous effect on said. About 60 Rempel supporters have gone against the wishes of more than 400 other parishioners, he said. Thiessen acknowledges that going to the press with his complaints may result in further problems with the church.

But he feels compelled to bring the issue out into the open. "I know people won't appreciate this. I want to show the outside people that the Mennonites are just not that way," he said. "We do not need publicity like that," he added. "How can I correct it? I can only correct it by talking about it." Theissen says the church council at Eben-Ezer acted outside of the law by trying to hush up the Rempel sex scandal.

And they did Rempel no favor in the end by endorsing the man privately. "In my opinion they have completely ignored the justice system," he said. Thiessen is also asking the church council to issue him an apology. my family," said a distraught Thiessen inside the Vancouver courthouse. "Especially on my wife Lena.

There have been a couple of occasions when I thought she would have nervous breakdown." Members of the Eben-Ezer Church have vocally and physically supported Walter Rempel throughout his trial. In Chilliwack, outraged church members tussled with press photographers. In one instance, a church member spat towards a member of the press and suggested that he "get down on his belly and crawl in the same gutter he came from." Thiessen is ashamed of his fellow churchgoers, saying their "vigilante" actions fly in the face of pacifism. "I want to apologize publicly for the misbehavior that was done at the courthouse in Chilliwack," he said. Eben-Ezer has been wracked by turmoil since the Rempel sex scandal surfaced last year, Thiessen Brother-in-law of Rempel charged with sex offences Just one day after his brother-in-law Rev.

Walter Aaron Rempel was sentenced to a year in jail for similar sex crimes, Dr. Victor Pauls of Richmond was charged with one count of indecent assault and gross indecency involving a minor. The charges laid Dec. 11 in Richmond against the prominent Vancouver dentist stem trom in cidents allegedly occuring between one of its members. Pauls is currently team dentist to the Vancouver Canadians baseball team.

He was active with Campus Crusade for Christ organization Athletes in Action which ministers to professional athletes. He remains a high profile lay leader in chu ch circles, performing concerts with his wife Joan at various worship services and public functions. They are currently members of the Fraserview Mennonite Brethren Church in Richmond (he was suspended from public church ministries pending the police investigation into these allegations). In addition, Dr. Pauls has served on many local religious organization boards: Youth for Christ, Campus Crusade for Christ, Christian Medical Society, Billy Graham and Pavilion of Promise (Expo 86).

He was subsequently hired as a dentist for the Bur-naby School District before eventually joining a private practice near UBC. He currently practises dentistry at his clinic on W. 49th with his oldest son Douglas Pauls. 1961 and 1972 when the victim was aged four through 15. The 53-year-old former lay chaplain for the B.C.

Lions football team is expected to be summoned to appear in provincial court in early January, said the in vestigating officer, RCMP Cpl. pm Bob Doige of detachment. Pauls faces charges that were in the law books at the time of the alleged offences, Doige said. The Canada Criminal Code has been amended twice since then. Doige added that he held off laying charges at the request of the family because of a serious illness of COTTONWOOD MALL BOXING DAY SALE! 70 Xf 7 Wca PLEASE, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26th ftM.

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