Responding to Abuse by Clergy: 11211, Bill's 'Faith Matters' Blog , November 3, 2011

Responding to Abuse by Clergy: 11-2-11

Bill's 'Faith Matters' Blog
November 3, 2011

http://billtammeus.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/11/11-2-11.html

Nearly the whole world is aware of the scandal in the Catholic Church -- in the U.S. and abroad -- of priests sexually abusing children. It has received -- and, indeed, deserved -- wide attention.

Clergy_sexual_misconductWhat is less well-known is how widespread clergy sexual misconduct is in faith traditions outside Catholicism. The misconduct may have a bit of a different look to it -- in Protestant churches, for instance, it is more likely to be extramarital affairs instead of abuse of children -- but it is destructive nonetheless.

A new book offers a comprehensive look at the problem in a way that should be especially helpful to church lay leaders whose task it is to oversee the work of the clergy.

Clergy Sexual Misconduct: A Sytems Approach to Prevention, Intervention, and Oversight, by John Thoburn and Rob Baker, with Maria Dal Maso, will be an important resource for faith communities of many kinds, but especially Protestant churches.

Statistics cited by the authors indicates that 30 percent of Protestant minister engage in inappropriate sexual behavior. Even my own family has been affected by clergy sexual misconduct, and many church leaders simply have little or no idea how to handle the matter.

This book of essays by more than a dozen experts looks at the problem from many angles and suggests solutions that take into account the full personality, history and character of the perpetrators.

We know from what we have read about the Catholic scandal that it is easy to make errors of judgment in seeking to respond to clergy sexual misconduct. This book, which is interested as much in prevention as it is in treatment, may help clergy members themselves but also those charged with guiding them avoid some of those errors of the heart and errors of the head that have caused a bad situation to be worse.

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WHO IS SLOWING DOWN EQUAL RIGHTS FOR GAYS?

In the struggle to make same-sex marriage legal, African-Americans have been among the opponents. Certainly not unanimously, but most polls and surveys suggest that a majority of black Americans oppose this civil right for gays and lesbians. This column unpacks that reality and some of the reasons for it. I think civil rights leader Julian Bond gets it right when, in the piece, he's quoted as saying: “This is a community composed of many Biblical literalists,” adding that they put a “wrong and wrong-headed” emphasis on what the Bible says (if anything) about homosexuality. For my own essay on what scripture says about homosexuality, look under the "Check this out" headline on the right side of this page.

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P.S.: My latest Presbyterian Outlook column now is online. To read it, click here. AND my latest National Catholic Reporter column is online now, too. To read it, click here.