We need to talk.
Rather than preach a sermon to you today, I want to take a few minutes to clarify for my church family some details surrounding a recent police press release that mentions Resurrection Fellowship by name.
Although this talk is intended for those individuals and families who attend our church regularly (or our church family), I am confident that there are a number of reporters in this room as well. This is understandable. However, those of you who call REZ home should know that the media is not my intended audience today. You are.
I want to begin by reading the police press release I’ve just mentioned. After I have read it in its entirety, each of you will receive a copy. I will explain why we want you to have one in a few moments. After I read the press release, I will then read one newspaper article for the sake of context and clarity. After I read the newspaper article, I will share some of my own comments. At the end of my commentary, we will have a time of communion and worship.
LOVELAND REPORTER HERALD
BY TOM HACKERA 54-year-old Resurrection Fellowship youth ministries volunteer has been arrested and jailed on charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Loveland police served the warrant for Robert Ernest Kirchhoff’s arrest on Tuesday, charging him with sexual assault on a child and sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, both Class 3 felonies.
Kirchhoff was arrested just before 6 p.m. Tuesday at his east Loveland home. He was taken to Larimer County jail, where he is being held in lieu of a $100,000 bond.
Police said the assault occurred Friday, and that no information indicates the alleged crimes occurred at Resurrection Fellowship.
Kirchhoff was advised of his rights and of charges against him Wednesday at Larimer District Court during a video feed from the jail.
Resurrection Senior Pastor Jonathan Wiggins said Kirchhoff had been a volunteer with the church’s preteen programs, conducted during Saturday and Sunday services, for about a year.
Wiggins said the alleged victim’s parents contacted the pastoral staff at REZ, as the church is widely known, on Saturday.
“From that, we knew there was a cause for concern,” Wiggins said. “We are mandatory reporters, and we did so immediately. We encouraged the family to report as well, and they did.”
‘Baby-sitting situation’
Loveland Police Detective Brian Koopman said that the alleged victim’s parents had become acquainted with Kirchhoff, and that their daughter was sometimes left in his care “like a baby-sitting situation,” Koopman said.
It was that relationship, rather than his church volunteer work, that led to the charge of sexual assault by a person in a position of trust, Koopman said.
Koopman said the Larimer County Jail, on the advice of the District Attorney’s Office, would not provide a photo of Kirchhoff until Friday, since its release might compromise a continuing investigation.
“There are still a couple of investigative issues we need to attend to,” Koopman said. “We want a good, clean, untainted investigation.”
Kirchhoff is described in a Loveland police custody report as being 6-feet-3-inches tall, 240 pounds, with red hair and blue eyes. He was reported to be a salesman at an unspecified car dealership.
Wiggins said the alleged victim “was not of the age or grade range associated with our preteen program,” but that she and her family were members of the congregation.
“It’s likely that (Kirchhoff) became acquainted with her through REZ,” he said.
The preteen group at REZ includes about 60 to 70 fifth- and sixth-grade children, Wiggins said.
“My understanding with everyone I’ve talked to on the pastoral team is that he was never in a one-on-one situation with any of those kids,” he said.
Wiggins said he did not know Kirchhoff well but estimated he had been a REZ attender for about 18 months.
“This is a large church, and I don’t have much of an impression of him,” Wiggins said. “I think I might have had one or two conversations with Bob after a Sunday service.”
Owned Toy Store
Kirchhoff for just over a year owned and operated an educational toy store called Dunce Busters at the Promenade Shops at Centerra. The store was seized by Loveland officials in January 2011 for failure to remit sales tax receipts, Promenade Shops general manager Don Foster said.
Colorado court records show Kirchhoff pleaded guilty in 2006 to a misdemeanor child abuse charge and received a deferred sentence. He also had been arrested for domestic violence in connection with that incident.
Wiggins said he was not dismayed that the Resurrection name appeared in public notices about the incident, and that he would address the issue during weekend services.
“One of the things I appreciate about the (police) press release is that it mentions the church by name,” he said.
“I want to talk about why it’s helpful, and why it’s useful, for our name to be involved. Given the situation, it’s appropriate. Sometimes doing the right thing makes us uncomfortable, but it’s still the right thing. I am for anything that can help. If there is someone out there who can help, they need to be able to do that.”
Anyone with information about the suspect or the case should call Detective Brandon Johnson on the investigations tip line, 962-2032.
This past Monday, Detective Brandon Johnson called me for our first and only conversation to date. I told him he just caught me at church as Monday is normally my day off. He told me it was his day off as well. I hope we both get an extra vacation day after this is over. He said he was calling to let me know he would be releasing this statement and that it would include the name of our church. He explained to me why he had chosen to include the REZ name in the press release. Detective Johnson was not asking for my permission to include our name in the press release. He was not asking for my counsel or even my support. He made a judgment call and for what it is worth, I think he made the right one.
We happen to be the church community to which both parties in this case belong. It makes sense to me that the police would want to shine light within that common community to search for useful or additional information. This is a measure of due diligence that is in my opinion an effective way to de-mystify any cloud of suspicion, to vet out the what-if scenarios, and to reassure the parents and grandparents in our church that REZ is in fact a safe place for kids.
I am confident that the inclusion of our name in this press release will yield little if any useful or additional information. However, my confidence does not suffice when what is called for in this case is due diligence. That is why I made the decision to put a copy of this press release in the hand of every adult in attendance here today. As members of the community to which both the alleged victim and the suspect belong, we have a responsibility to share anything we know that could aid law enforcement in this investigation.
It would be short-sighted and we would, quite frankly, miss the point to worry about whether this makes Resurrection Fellowship look “good” or “bad” to those in our community who do not attend this church. Our potential PR problems will be short-lived and are but a small price to pay considering what is at stake here. We will weather this storm. A preacher named Manley Beasley once said, “Adversity is a friend in disguise.” Sobering events like these serve to make us stronger, better, and more unified than ever before.
I am your pastor. But more central to my identity is the fact that I am a father of four amazing kids. My oldest son, Nathan, attended the REZ pre-teen program until he was too old to go anymore. My oldest daughter, Madelyn Grace, is currently part of the pre-teen program and enjoys it very much. I spoke with Mady about all this. I then asked Madelyn, “Hey Mady, have you ever felt uncomfortable at pre-teen events for any reasons at all?” She looked into her dad’s eyes like only she can, rolled her eyes and said “No, Dad.” I smiled as a sense of relief washed over me.
What I am about to say, I say with sobriety and trembling. Our fellowship is incredibly strong and healthy but as I have contemplated the gravity of one little girl’s pain, and considered the reality of one man’s life forever changed no matter the outcome of his trial, I am struck with this thought. Our community, strong as it is, is held together by only one thread. Only one—and that thread is trust. If trust is strained, community suffers. If trust is broken, community unravels.
I do not presume to ask you to just trust me concerning all this. Genuine trust must be earned and maintained rather than requested. What I can say is that I believe this Pastoral team has in this instance and countless others conducted themselves in a way that reinforces this dad’s belief in the notion that REZ is a safe place for kids to grow, learn and thrive.
God bless you all. I love you.
