Forget and/or forgive

A couple of different things over the last few days have caused me to want to consider what forgiveness means in the church. I was watching a rerun episode of Law and Order on TNT last night and the case revolved around whether or not a person who committed a crime years ago and then had become a born again Christian, should be punished for his crime, or whether his clear transformation and devoted life since was in fact a sign of rehabilitation and that the court should not punish him for something that God had forgiven him for. The second incident I am less aware, but noticed in a NY Times article, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/us/06church.html. New Life Church in Colorado Springs has done an "audit" of its staff in the wake of Ted Haggred's resignation. At least one person appearantly has been fired for "unrelated issues of sin."
These two incidents lead to me to wonder where grace and forgiveness really come into play in our daily lives. Each of these examples seems to show how the grace of God, which takes away our sins, does not infact remove us from punishment. Now, I certainly agree that there is a compelling arguement for punishment in the court system separate from grace. After all, the reason for the courts is not in fact to deal with sins, but infact to maintain justice in society. Any punishment that should occur is done because of harm that has been done to the victims and also to the society as a whole by the criminal. But does this argument hold up in a church as well.
I agree there can be excellent reasons for forgiveness working along side "punishment." Often things like child molestation are not isolated sins, but a sign of something deeper that needs to be treated even as the person is forgiven. The reason for defrock a minister over such an instance is not punish them, but because it is no longer in their own interests or the interests of the church to have them as a minister. They need to deal with their own problems instead.
Taking all of this into account there is still the question of firing church staff for their sins. I do not know the particulars of New Life Church, nor would I want to stand in judgement of them if I did. I simply want to take the possibility of what is reported to have occurred there and use it for my own ethical speculations. It would seem to me that what is essential in an issue of the sins of church staff is the level of sin. As I said before I think there are some sins which are clearly signs of deeper problems. Forgiving someone for passing out drunk at your house one night does not overcome the issue of alcoholism they might be dealing with. It is also understandable that there are some sins which undermine the trust necessary for a pastor to do their work. Such an instance could mean thave even as a congregation forgives the individual, it is no longer possible for them to continue as the pastor.
Can we forgive and still punish? Does the removal of sin remove that from us? Is it not punishment that is important but instead reformation? Should we be concerned not with punishing, but assisting both sinner and any victims of sin of re-establishing the best life possible. As much as I understand the need for punishment and a cost for one's actions. What makes God's forgiveness so powerful is that it takes away the cost. Inspite of everything else, it just seems to me that ultimately, forgiveness that is accompanied by punishment is not true forgiveness. There are a great deal of caveats to that statement, but I think I have ponder them enough.