Pastors and misconduct in the EMC

How do we respond?

By Layton Friesen

For God so loved his church that he gave some to be pastors. A Spirit-filled pastor is surely one of God’s most potent gifts in leading us to a deeper walk with Jesus. Following the example of a good pastor is a key path to conversion and becoming like Jesus according to 1 Timothy 4:12–16.

Could this happen to anyone?

But a depressing recurrence in church news recently has been the report of some pastor somewhere accused of abuse or misuse of power. No church or denomination seems exempt. The bewildered Christian begins to wonder, could this really happen to anyone? To my pastor? What Christian leader who inspired me to follow Jesus 20 years ago will be in the newspaper tomorrow?

These are hard questions. The EMC has been led for two centuries by a host of godly, humble pastors whose service was and continues to be above reproach. But we have also had pastors who were not trustworthy and who took advantage of people under their care.

Facing the hard questions

How do we continue to enthusiastically call, support and follow the shepherds God gives us, while being wise as serpents to deal with hirelings who show themselves unworthy of the office?

It takes a whole spiritual culture in our conference that raises, trains, holds accountable and supports pastors. Pastors need schooling, healthy relationships, ample financial support and, yes, church discipline, to stay healthy. It takes a village to raise a healthy pastor.

But even a healthy village needs to know what to do when one of its own pastors is accused of breaking trust and abusing someone. These are devastating situations. Some will have the instinct to defend the pastor at all costs: “Touch not my anointed!” Others may rush to judgment. We can’t rely on instincts during a time like this. We need a thoughtful, preplanned process.

The EMC Ministerial is considering again how we respond to allegations against ministers. This was a big part of the conversation at our meeting on June 10, 2022.

Abuse is to be taken seriously

We are revising our Ministerial Misconduct Policy to ensure when accusations of abuse are made against ministers, the people bringing forward these reports are taken seriously. We want to ensure there is a fair and objective attempt made to understand what happened in each situation and to determine what the consequences need to be.

As pastors we want to learn more together about boundaries in the workplace, and about developing the self-knowledge we need to be involved in the intense and often emotionally fraught work of pastoring. We recognize that pastoring demands a deep sanctity that only comes through a long sculpting by the Spirit, Word and community.

A breaking of trust

All EMC pastors and ministers are accountable both to their congregations and to the wider conference. Whenever a pastor has a sexual or sexualized relationship with a congregant (apart from marriage) it is an abuse of power, and a breaking of trust.

There are also other forms of behaviour that would be seen as a grave compromise of the church’s trust in their pastor, such as embezzling the church’s money.

Power isn’t all bad, but can be misused

Ministers have been given power by the congregation and the conference. This is important and good. Power is something God has a lot of, so it can’t be all bad! But power always brings hazards when it is handed to mortals.

The more power a person has, the godlier character they need to live above reproach. God only lends power to the church to do what God is doing, in the way God wants it done. Anything beyond that is the misuse of power. As the saying goes, the corruption of the best is the worst.

A focus on pastoral misconduct

Congregations should each have their own abuse prevention policies, such as child safety policies that govern how we all work together.

What the EMC Ministerial is focusing on is how to deal with pastoral misconduct. We have had a ministerial misconduct policy for several decades but several key changes are being considered.

• We are considering forming a misconduct response team of trained individuals from across the conference who would investigate accusations of abuse against a minister.

• We are considering the requirement that all our ministers sign a pastoral ethics covenant committing themselves to the highest ethical standard.

• We are considering holding regular training events for our pastors to further develop a culture of gentle, godly power in our ministry.

• We are planning to have information more readily available on the EMC website where those who have experienced abuse by an EMC minister will have a clear idea of what the process will be if they report, and provide information to begin the process.

The draft policy is available

We hope to have the final vote on this new policy at the November 2022 Conference Council meeting. If you would like to see a copy of this draft policy, speak to your pastor, church board chairperson, or contact the EMC office (204326-6401 or info@emconference.ca).

A policy that is useable and fair

It is sometimes said, we hope we never have to use a policy like this. That’s not quite right. We hope no one ever experiences sexual abuse or bullying from anyone in an EMC church. But if there are those who have experienced this, we want this policy to be well-used.

It is also the case that our pastors need to be protected from unfounded or false accusations. For all this we need a well-thought-out policy that is useable and fair.

Living a hidden holiness

When I think back to pastors I have had, I thank God for the lives they offered to the church. They were humble folk who were quick to repent and admit their failures—and that was beautiful.

Pastors live a demanding life, and those who live it with integrity find there is nothing glamourous or heady about it. It takes grit and a willingness to do most of your work behind the scenes, living a hidden holiness that few will see.

We need gentle, skilled people anointed by the Spirit to offer their lives to this walk of life.

The path to true, godly, pastoral power

The pastoral life becomes powerful in a godly way in the life of the church as it is imitated. That’s a different kind of power than we mostly see in our world. Essentially, biblical pastoral power consists of living a hidden life of holiness in service to the church that nevertheless becomes evident and compelling. People seek to emulate it—and therein lies true, godly, pastoral power.

But that makes pastoral abuse so devastating. People’s spiritual lives are at stake. It’s not enough to simply tell people to follow Jesus, not their pastor. No, the New Testament tells people to follow the example of their pastors (Hebrews 13:7). When pastors use that power to destroy vulnerable people, souls are put at risk.

The shepherd walks ahead

I often remember an inspired line from a commentary I read some years ago which makes me so thankful for all the amazing pastors I have come to know across the EMC. Peter H. Davids said, “One could well argue that, following the pattern of the ancient world and especially of Judaism, teaching and leading was for the New Testament basically a matter of example rather than of lecture or command. Being an example fits well with the image of ‘flock,’ for the ancient shepherd did not drive his sheep but walked in front of them and called them to follow” (The First Epistle of Peter, New International Commentary on the New Testament, 181).

We have a great culture of pastoral work in the EMC—let’s build on it!

Layton Friesen served as EMC Conference Pastor for the past five years. He begins as Academic Dean at Steinbach Bible College in August 2022.

Board of Leadership and Outreach members Abe Berg, Andrea Dyck, Ed Peters and Andy Woodworth (both hidden in back), and Chris Hughes pray a blessing on Glenda and Layton Friesen as Layton completes his work as EMC Conference Pastor and begins in his new position as Academic Dean at Steinbach Bible College this summer.

Adrienne Penner