Jay Voorhees has an interesting post up about the defrocking of yet another UMC pastor for sexual misconduct and the implications for ministerial candidacy and The Book of Discipline.
Anecdotally, it seems that I hear so many stories about church experiences that involve "and then the pastor was caught in an affair...." It's like every church has lost a pastor to sexual misconduct!
This calls for quantitative study, and of course there are many. But I wonder: how many UMC pastors, if commissioned at age 25 fresh out of seminary, make it to retirement without committing or facing successful charges of sexual misconduct? What is our casualty rate? And how does it compare with the laity?
I don't know for sure, but it seems awfully high.
Monday, January 23, 2006
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5 comments:
One of the things that has stuck with me from seminary was when my ethics professor said, "Some of you will lose your ministry because of sexual misconduct." He was right, one of my best friends lost his ministry because he was playing footsies with his secretary.
Let's see if I read this right this guy slept with a woman whom he then married.
Thats it's sinful and should be dealt with is a given but is it so terrible that it's an end to his ministry?
One assumes that otherwise he was a good pastor. Perhaps someone closer to this can shed some light on it.
Why is it that the army of Christ is the only army where we shoot our wounded and claim them as "casualties"?
Is there no possible room for some sort of repentance or rehabilitation or do you have so many passtors out in the west who can lead large congregations that you can whittle your way through them for sins which would otherwise not raise any hackles if commited by our friends/neighbours?
So many churchmen speak of peace and reconciliation especially when it comes to Arabs blowing up Jews. If we can ask a Jew to forgive a murderous Arab, can we not ask ourselves to forgive the fallen among us who have given their lives to the ministry?
My concern is not just for a church without a pastor now. It's also for the life and future ministry of this well equipped soldier we are prepared to write-off at this point.
To take a train warhorse behind the stables to be shot simply because he comes up lame reminds me of a scene in seabiscuit but then that's just me.
John, this has been going on for at least 100 years, in all denominations. And never happens to most pastors - but can happen to some of the biggest!
Usually the misconduct is sexual. And usually it is the church secretary, organist, or someone the pastor was counseling (beware!)
Next most often is some form of stealing or fraud.
So look out! Sex and money! Can clobber pastors too, just like everyone else.
From an "Old Timer."
Maobi, I've been wondering about that, too. If his only chargeable offense was sleeping with his fiance, then outright defrocking was excessive.
Maybe there were other issues which forced his resignation. I don't know.
Maobi,
Often UMC pastors were "Rehabilitated" rather than defrocked. That involved repentance, being exiled to some tiny church for at least a year, and being on "parole" - reporting for close supervision and counseling.
If that worked out, they would be gradually moved back up again. Most denominations have a similar process.
As to this case, consider these possibilities.
First, we probably don't know everything the investigating body may have learned. If we knew, we might agree with them.
Second, this may be another example of guarding against liability exposure. Unfortunately, U.S. trial lawyers are so out of control that sometimes avoiding a lawsuit by the complaining person may the main concern.
It is easy to say they shouldn't do that. But they also have to consider that the whole church might have to be sold if they lost a lawsuit. Should they risk closing down the church in order to protect someone who freely chose what he did? Hard choice.
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