by Rev. Dr. Mary Susan Gast, Conference Minister, May-June, 2002
Monthly Reflections from The Pacific ~ News and Events of the NCNC United Church of Christ

IT'S REALLY ABOUT TRUST

Words of encouragement and support for those ministering "in the fields."

"Pastoral care," writes Dow Edgerton, "is not the care of a string of isolated individuals, but rather it addresses the community in its common life....There must be no privileging of the care of the violator that gives it priority over the care of those violated.......Failure to address the question of the restraint of evil-doing is neither pastoral nor ethical and abandons both the victim and the perpetrator to the power of death." "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me."

The United Church of Christ, like all denominations, has harbored sexual predators. Twenty years ago, it was not uncommon for a minister who had sexually exploited parishioners in one church, to suddenly leave that church and become the pastor of another congregation, in another Conference, with no word spoken about the cause of his departure. But the courage of church members to begin to speak the unspeakable, to stand with the vulnerable, identify the power dynamics in pastoral relationships, and develop systems of accountability for ministers and redress for the victimized caught hold in our autonomous yet covenantally connected network of churches.

Every Conference of the UCC has a procedure in place for dealing with ministers' sexual misconduct. Psychological screening is required of candidates for authorized ministry in most Conference, certainly in NCNC. Resources abound on preventing abuse and responding to those who have been abused. ^* The Committee on the Ministry, Sections A & B, is moving forward to engage more and more of our ministers in education about the ways in which clergy may be misusing their pastoral role, taking unfair advantage of the esteem accorded to their calling.

Twenty years ago, we began talking to each other in the United Church of Christ about pastoral conduct and misconduct. Faith-filled attorneys advised Conference staff that "confidentiality" did not mean keeping quiet about those who exploit and abuse, that our responsibility to the health of the church took precedence over a minister's claim that the truth about her or his pastoral ethics rendered him/her "unemployable." For the past 15 years Conferences have been committed to disclose to one another and to search committees information about past misconduct on the part of ministers seeking a new call. Ten years ago, with the adoption of the General Synod Pronouncement on Sexual Harassment and Abuse in the Church, the stories began surfacing about sexual abuse that had occurred in our churches 30 years ago, and that occurred yesterday. We will never screen out all the predators, nor preempt all those who might stray only once, nor heal all the hurt. But let us pray, in this and in all matters, for the heart to confront what threatens to destroy us, and the ears to hear the cries of the oppressed.

* For resource materials, please refer to the June edition of The Pacific.   You may also wish to consult the Chicago Theological Seminary website, www.ctschicago.edu for "In such a time as this..." with legal, theological, and pastoral responses to the recent events in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church:   The Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence's website is: www.cpsdv.org; their Spring edition of "Working Together" recounts history, and offers reflection and resources.

Your comments are welcome
Send to mailto:msgast@ncncucc.org