Beth Ann Gaede, Editor, When a Congregation is Betrayed: Responding to Clergy Misconduct. Alban Institute, 2005.
Referenced in: Church Conflict – Congregational Trauma, Ministerial Misconduct
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This is an anthology of articles from ministry practitioners, including Beth Ann Gaede, Nancy Myer Hopkins, Candace R. Benyei, Mary Sellon and others. Its special contribution is discussing how new congregational leaders must weather the fallout when they come after someone who has broken trust. These are sometimes referred to as “after-pastors.” Equally as important are the lay leaders who feel that once they hire a replacement, they can move on, only to discover that the damage done by the former minister has lingering effects that make it difficult to move the congregation to the next level.
The authors provide seasoned advice that comes from first-hand experience with congregations that have experienced clergy misconduct. This includes how to conduct open congregational dialogue toward healing and how to understand and minister to the victim-survivors.
This is a front-line resource on the issue of ministerial misconduct.
From the Publisher
Other books have been written about clergy misconduct and its effects on congregations. Some are by victims. Others are written by professionals for a professional audience. Until now, however, there hasn’t been a book for the congregational leaders who must deal with the fallout of prior clergy misconduct. This collection is for the “afterpastors”—interim or settled pastors—who follow misconducting pastors. And it’s for lay leaders who may themselves have witnessed or been victimized by the misconducting pastor. Both groups of leaders need guidance about how to assess and effectively respond to the misconduct, how to care for the victim/survivor, and how to carry out the mission and ministry to which the congregation has been called.
The contributors to this volume have all consulted, taught, and written about clergy misconduct. In this book, they provide non-technical guidance for the those on the front lines in congregations where misconduct has occurred—not only the people who are professionally interested in the subject, but also the people who must deal with it on a day-to-day basis. They give readers tools to engage congregation members in the issues surrounding clergy misconduct, so that real healing can occur; they help congregations understand the victim’s/survivor’s experience; and they offer strategies to help afterpastors and other leaders manage a difficult situation, serve effectively, and even thrive.
About the Author
Edited by Beth Ann Gaede, who has been an editor with the Alban Institute since 1995. A pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, she works as a freelance editor and writer for a variety of church-related publishers.
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