The Church and the Child Killer

Dave Pinckney says he had no idea what his faith was getting him into.

“I thought we were just helping a man who would have been homeless, and an ex-con who’s also a brother in Christ, until he got settled in the community, not knowing there’d be so much more to this.”

Pinckney’s an Evangelical minister from Chichester.

You may remember his name.

He made international headlines last spring when he brought Raymond Guay to live with him, his wife, and their five children.

Guay, of course, is the man who was convicted of shooting and killing a twelve-year old boy in Hollis in 1973.

During his incarceration, Guay became a born-again Christian.

When a prison chaplain asked Pinckney to house Guay for part of his parole, Pinckney agreed.

But the normally tranquil town of Chichester erupted.

Neighbors picketed on the Pinckney’s lawn, called with death threats and carried firearms.

But for the River of Grace Church in Concord, their Pastor’s new house guest was more than just an unsettling surprise.

“It truly tested the members of our church.”

For years, Jessica Littivvio has brought her three-year-old son along to weekly bible studies at the Pinckney’s home.

Suddenly, that no longer seemed possible.

“I was terrified. My biggest concern of course was my son. I had this responsibility to protect him, and now was I going to be able to do that?”

The River of Grace rents it worship space from Concord Christian Academy.

The school asked that Guay not be allowed onto school property.
But Pinckney says even welcoming Guay into the wider church community required more than turning the other cheek.

“I think what has challenged us as a congregation is, we teach and preach the forgiveness of Jesus, but then to take in Public Enemy No. 1, a child killer, obviously that is a parent’s worst nightmare. It really became a personal struggle of do I really believe what Jesus teaches?”

For parishioner and parent Rich Araldi, that struggle was also a spiritual one.

“Several months before, I happened to see an article about Mr. Guay and about the crime that was committed from all those years ago. And the thoughts that processed through my head, it really taxes our thoughts on mercy and judgment and all those other things that are part of our faith walk.”

But for members like Marsha Savage, supporting her pastor also meant trusting Guay around her child.

“Our son raised the question of, is that going to affect my going over to the Pinckney’s, can I still have sleepovers there? And it was a stretch for our family, but after we talked about it and prayed about it and thought it about it more, it was, do we trust our pastor, do we trust this man we have known for so many years, and you know, yeah, we do.”

For Littivvio, the turning point came in meeting Guay.

“Well, I was nervous about meeting him. But we did hear his story from the man he used to be to his change in prison. And it’s not to undermine what he did, what he did was a severe crime, and there was nothing right about it. But as I listened to him, I honestly felt that he was being genuine.”

She says she did, eventually, make peace with Guay.

“You know it does involve trust. It also took time afterwards to pray, to reflect, to get to the point where I felt I could be confident that this man was just trying to lead a quiet life.”

For Savage, Guay’s stay has left its mark on her – and the River of Grace.

“I think it’s impacted us in that I think it’s made people think more within themselves, okay, so, would I do something like David has done? Would I be willing to do that? What can we do to reach out to somebody else?”

Guay spent two months with the Pinckney’s before moving on to New Hampton, where he is also staying with a religious family.

Guay is legally required to serve out his three year parole in New Hampshire.

For NHPR news, I’m Kathryn Wells.