at least one lay leader who has experience with sexual misconduct and recovery dynamics.
The committee responsibilities also include conducting an accountability and support orientation session that sets forth guidelines and protocols for monitoring the clergy Restoration Plan. This orientation also clarifies how ongoing oversight is to proceed, with the focus on two primary goals. First, they serve to support the ongoing restoration and growth of the clergy and his significant others. Second, they assure the safety and well-being of the Church and its parishioners.
To fulfill these goals, the local Church oversight committee convenes periodic review sessions with the clergy person to monitor his ongoing progress, provide input, and make recommendations. The committee liaison submits summary reports and recommendations regarding the status and progress of the clergy person to the denominational Oversight Team’s leader. The denomination team leader will review these reports with the Oversight Team, eliciting any input before submitting a summary report to the denomination leadership. In some cases, periodic polygraphs may be done to support and confirm program compliance.
The elements of this Restoration Plan, along with the protocol expectations, need to be set forth in contract form and signed by all parties—the individual, the Oversight Team, the local Church accountability and support committee, and the denominational head. Oversight of the Restoration Plan would remain in place for a minimum of five years. This is consistent with the recommendation that an individual commit to a lifelong plan for restoration and growth (Carnes, 1991).
The oversight for treatment of sexual misconduct requires a daunting investment of time, energy, and finances, not only for the individual pastor but also for his family, the congregation he has served, and the conference or denomination for whom he works. Key factors that must be considered and addressed include the following:
1.What does the denomination/conference/congregation consider to be its responsibility toward a pastor who may not return to the pulpit or to professional ministry? Does the conference or denomination have a responsibility to provide for those who may no longer be under their care?
2.What is the motivation for the pastor regarding assessment and evaluation? If it is simply to avoid losing his job, then the prognosis will be poor.
3.What are the guidelines for determining whether or not a pastor can remain in the pulpit while going through treatment? For example, some experts recommend that if the misconduct is noncontact with another, such as Internet pornography, then he can remain in the pulpit (see chapter 12). Other experts recommend that pastoral sexual misconduct always involve stepping down from the pulpit while in treatment.
4.What are the available financial resources of the denomination, conference, or congregation for assessment, evaluation, and treatment of its clergy? Time as well as money is a resource; what kind of time commitment is the denomination or conference willing to make in the remediation of one of its pastors?
Prevention and Education of Clergy Sexual Misconduct
The process of restoration, recovery, and reconciliation is long and arduous. The problem is daunting just in terms of the sheer numbers of clergy battling sexual misconduct. If there are 600,000 clergy and 10–14 percent are acting out, that is 60,000 to 75,000 clergy who need intervention (Thoburn & Balswick, 1998). Add to that the reality that recovery is resource intensive in terms of labor, time, and money. The proverb “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is particularly apropos to the issue of clergy sexual misconduct. The key to dealing with this problem cannot lie solely in treatment, since clergy sexual misconduct is both a personal and systemic phenomenon. A comprehensive model must provide for prevention and education measures regarding sexual integrity and health throughout the Church system.
Prevention of clergy sexual misconduct is, at its core, a spiritual and relational issue, although other significant contributing factors need to be considered. These factors include the pastor’s neurological wiring, personality for
If a pastor’s career is felled by clergy sexual misconduct in the midst of his service to the Church, the seeds of this tragic outcome generally were sown far earlier in his life (see chapter 3). Most people enter the ministry from a sense of calling; that is, they feel that God has specifically called them forth to be a leader of His people. At the outset, clergy need to determine if their call is valid. It’s estimated that one-third of clergy are in the wrong field. As a result, their work in the Church in the role of pastor may be harmful to congregations and to themselves. Those who are likely to have trouble in the future are initially attracted to the ministry often to soothe feelings of latent guilt, shame, and unworthiness, or they feel pressure to fulfill the vicarious dreams of a parent. Some people grew up in addictive families and were the family peacemakers. As adults, they become attracted to environments where crisis is the norm. People with addictive personalities can become addicted to religion, and the ministry can be a natural outgrowth of addictive behavior. The ministry can feed narcissistic attributes as individuals seek out leadership roles in the Church. Some people are comfortable relating in pseudo-intimacy to crowds (a congregation) but not to individuals.
Assessment needs to occur at the time of seminary to detect unhealthy or dysfunctional motivations for entering ministry. As Laaser notes in chapter 3, assessment must be clinically as well as objectively focused. The roots of later problems are often nuanced or shrouded behind multigenerational family histories; therefore, care must be taken to do a comprehensive assessment at the beginning of a potential pastor’s career, not in the middle. Those who pathologically fit the personality profile for potential misconduct need to be gently but firmly redirected in their career goals.
Seminaries and denominations must devote themselves to the spiritual formation of their clergy and to ongoing spiritual direction in their lives. Seminary students are immersed in theology and practical ministry education, but they are given little attention in the way of personal spiritual formation, developing personal resiliency and effective relationship skills. When the early Church sent Paul home to grow, in spite of seeing results from his preaching, they set a precedent worth heeding by the contemporary Church: Make sure your clergy candidates are spiritually prepared before releasing them into ministry (Acts 9:26–30).
If call and formation are vital at the beginning of ministry, direction is just as important in the ongoing spiritual life and ministry of the pastor. Ministers do not have many intimate outlets or sources for personal spiritual growth. Many tend to rely on Bible study and prayer, alone in their prayer closets. The reality is that God is a God of relationships. He created us to be in relationship with Him and with each other, and he sent His Son to restore relationship with us when it was broken. Spiritual direction is about a pastor having a relationship with support programs and resources that will help him grow up in the faith through intimacy, vulnerability, and accountability. These resources can be administered through the Oversight Team. Specific focus areas can include the provision of spiritual mentors, training for personal and relationship development, peer support groups, regularly scheduled spiritual respite, and recreational retreats. While most clergy are happy in their roles, denominational leadership needs to intentionally instruct the local Church in how to be a community of balance. The people who are most at risk for burnout and sexual misconduct have similar dynamics: they are often anxious, overachieving, intensely insecure at their core, and have narcissistic features. Burnout is generally the direct result of overcommitment to ministry. Burnout results from a combination of the pastor giving in to the unrealistic expectations of the congregation, while attempting to compensate for personal feelings of unworthiness and fears of rejection. These are key attributes of codependent patterns and roles often learned as coping strategies
