love_thy_neighborwhere do you go to start a new life after 35 years in prison?  is it possible to pay the price for your crimes and to start again with a clean slate?  in this age of community notification, apparently not.

the new york times reported this story out of chichester, new hampshire:

A pastor in this quiet, picturesque New England town thought he was doing the Christian thing when he took in a convicted child killer who had served his time but had nowhere to go. But some neighbors of the Rev. David Pinckney vehemently disagree, one even threatening to burn his house down after officials could find no one else willing to take 60-year-old Raymond Guay.

the neighborhood is in an uproar and  town leaders are planning to ask state and federal officials to remove guay from the town.  rev. pinckney, for his part, is quite literally practicing what he preaches.  acting on faith, he has brought guay into his home to stay with him, his wife, and their four children, ages 13-18, for the next two months.

conrad mandsager, a man who formerly worked for prison fellowship added this perspective to the story:

Mandsager said he took in a violent criminal to live with his family of five in 1988. Sentenced for attempted murder and kept in solitary confinement for his role in a prison riot, the man turned his life around while living with Mandsager and working at a job through the Prison Fellowship, Mandsager said.

He disagrees with Chichester officials who say Guay would do better in a city with more jobs and other resources.

”You create more opportunities for problems by putting (convicts) in a larger city where there’s no accountability,” Mandsager said. He expects better results in a home like Pinckney’s, ”where there’s accountability and care and love for the guy.”

i hope there is a safe and happy ending to this story and that no one burns the reverend’s house down.