Here is a comment I left on another blog about this topic:
I want to touch on this from three point of views.
1. We are only getting one half of the story. The church is wisely being quiet about it. The articles never did say how old the children were, but if they are of age… watching this go down, and support the church… then there is stuff we aren’t hearing that would likely make this more appropriate.

2. I was in a similar hard line denomination for 6 years. Where people were ‘marked’ for dating the wrong person, not following advice and the like. So I’ve seen the bad…

3. In general, I support this churches actions. My hunch is that she has been causing a stink and has not simply left the church. So the leaders feel they need to tell the other side to the church. Their reason for not agreeing with her and the root cause of the situation. It is actually on my “to do” list for blogging. What she was doing was sin. And frankly I wish more churches would start calling sin what it is, not less. Marriage as a whole is on the rocks and if ‘Christians’ like this are what the world see’s, it isn’t going to get any better.

I guess I’m a little confused about a couple things.  The word “adultery” is used in the title to this article, but I got the impression that neither Hancock nor her boyfriend are married to anyone.  Have I misunderstood?

Also, according to the Fox News article, the church is going to publicly announce Hancock’s sin to the entire congregation, despite the fact that she has formally resigned from the church. If she has resigned, I don’t think it’s necessary for the church to continue to press its case against her by public humiliation, because she is no longer a member of the church body and, therefore, no longer subject to church discipline.

ironic their church is called grace.

that is ironic, since God is a God of both grace and justice.  don’t you think?

Nora:  you didn’t misunderstand.  The FOX article says the woman is divorced, so she and her boyfriend are guilty of fornication, not adultery. \\

Jud: I think it’s ironic that in the FOX article, the woman actually refers to it as “my sins”.  I don’t think I saw anywhere in the article where she denied being in sin.  Rather, she admitted to trying to break it off and apparently chose love of this man over ending the relationship.  Interesting… If she loves him so much, why not get married?\\

Ckincincy:  The FOX article stated that her children are 20 and and 18, so they are adults, but I can’t imagine how they will feel sitting there listening to the accusations against their mother. \\

Personally, I would handle this as privately as possible and if she refused wise counsel, I would proceed with removal from membership, but try to do so without divulging all the ugly details.

Pat - She might not deny that she is in sin but does that mean she’s repented? No. She obviously hasn’t “turned” and that, from the elders perspective and the Scripture’s for that matter, is the issue.

Now, “Personally, I would handle this as privately as possible and if she refused wise counsel, I would proceed with removal from membership, but try to do so without divulging all the ugly details.”

How does this trump the scriptures that the Elders brought out in their letter?

Jud:\\
I wasn’t implying anything regarding the woman’s repentance.  I simply thought it was interesting that in a way she was admitting to sin, yet she’s outraged for being called on the carpet. 

As for trumping the Scriptures, that is not my intent.  In light of my view of Scripture AND the nature of God, I would handle this a little more privately than the church did.  Maybe just keep it to her mentor and the elders.  If it has to go before the church, I would simply say due to a moral failing or something like that.  You have to take into account the spiritual maturity of your congregation and if the goal is to bring repentance, sharing something like this publicly with people who aren’t mature will lead to gossip, slander, etc.  In situations like this, you really see where people stand--who’s committed to biblical restoration and those who are more concerned with pointing fingers and being self-righteous.

This church is simply followngthe Scriptures.  Just because the world is confused by the church’s procedures, doesn’t mean the church has done anything unbiblical.

You know, also in scripture I read Jesus interacting with women who are accused of the same thing as this woman but He says to the accusers in one instance, “you who are without sin, cast the first stone”.  To the women He basically tells them all to go and sin no more.  I believe that would be a pretty clear biblical mandate.

Ernie-

Context man !!!

Jesus is dealing with a lost soul.

Grace Community Church is dealing with a member of their church who confesses Jesus Christ but is living in habitual sin.

maybe she thought the people of the world could help her , thats the reason she called the media. she wants someone on her side. but i think the church is right for doing what they did.

If every church kicked everyone out who had unrepented sex without being married, there wouldn’t be enough people left to financially sustain Christianity. 

If I were a member of this church, I’d suggest we work on things like greed, hate, bigotry, and state-sponsored murder rather than focusing our energies on divorcees who have sex. 

But I suspect this church has a hierarchy of sin in place, and those pesky sins above have to take a back seat to (gasp) sex.

I note that the offender is a woman and I can’t help but wonder if this same thing would’ve happened to a man.

This is from “Trends in Premarital Sex in the U.S. 1954-2003.”

Results. Data from the 2002 survey indicate that by age 20, 77% of respondents had had sex, 75% had had premarital sex, and 12% had married; by age 44, 95% of respondents (94% of women, 96% of men, and 97% of those who had ever had sex) had had premarital sex. Even among those who abstained until at least age 20, 81% had had premarital sex by age 44.

Sounds like the church is right on this one. That won’t stop them from being sued nor excoriated in the press.