SAINT
ANDREW’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
FORUM - UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIANITY
“CURRENT SCANDALS IN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES” – Canon Richard
T. Nolan
A. WHAT IS A “SCANDAL?”
Etymology: Middle English,
from Late Latin scandalum stumbling
block, offense, from Greek skandalon trap,
stumbling block, offense; akin to Latin scandere
to climb
Date: 13th century
1a: discredit brought upon religion by unseemly conduct in a religious person
b: conduct that causes or encourages a lapse of faith or of
religious obedience in another
2: loss of or damage to reputation caused by actual or
apparent violation of morality or propriety
3a: a circumstance or action that offends propriety or established moral
conceptions or disgraces those associated with it
b:
a person whose conduct offends propriety or morality
4: malicious or defamatory gossip
5: indignation, chagrin, or bewilderment brought about by a flagrant violation
of morality, propriety, or religious opinion
B. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR
Failure to hold church leaders (lay and ordained) accountable
in effective ways. The next two paragraphs are excerpts from
“Accountability of Rectors” within “Constructive Criticisms…..” at
www.philosophy-religion.org/.
Lack of
Effective Evaluations
Little impetus is evident for the development and implementation
of truly effective methods for holding rectors accountable. Periodic
evaluations are often flawed, because they appear to have no consequences or
because their contents and methods are inadequate. For example, a
hand-picked senior warden is hardly an impartial evaluator; a stacked vestry is
unhelpful; generalities avoid significant specifics; critical comments can be
useless, if no motivation to change has been included!
Code of
Silence
Observers have frequently encountered a code of silence among
clergy (similar to what we hear about lawyers, doctors, educators, and the
police), such that criticisms of colleagues are perceived as cheap shots, idle gossip,
or indications of mean-spiritedness, envy, insensitivity, and/or
disloyalty. Also contributing to the reluctance to raise issues is the
dread of instant diagnoses and categorizing, such as “triangulate,”
“undermining,” “combative,” “passive-aggressive,” “hostile,” “authority
problem,” “vindictive,” “confrontational,” “sick,” “not a team player,” and
whatever else is in vogue at the time. Though helpful when employed
accurately, these labels – often used imprecisely and with incomplete information
about their target - stifle collegial conversations and trivialize unfavorable
comments. If one is still at a pre-retired stage, the appearance of any
of these classifications can significantly reduce the possibility of other
calls and, in any case, damage one’s credibility. [Regrettably, there are
clergy who will knowingly lie about their critics (their motivations as well as
the content and circumstances of the criticisms) in attempts to preserve their
immunity.] Genuine concern for the
well-being of clergy and the Church requires attention to difficult matters
with love and candor instead of silence.
C. SOME TYPES OF SCANDALS
Sexual
pedophilia:
adults with children; prior to child’s puberty; heterosexual or homosexual
ephebophilia: adult erotic focus on adolescent youth between 13 and
17; heterosexual or homosexual
adultery:
consensual sexual relations by a married person with other than his/her spouse;
heterosexual or homosexual
serial sexual encounters; heterosexual or homosexual
Financial
embezzlement/theft
from church accounts
from gifts to church
accepting sizable personal gifts from parishioners
Intellectual
publicly abandoning the parameters of a church’s body
of teachings
[as distinct from scholarly research]
Liturgical
publicly officiating at (or participating in) rituals
not approved by one’s church
“selling” the sacraments and other rituals to anyone who
comes along, without adequate preparation (baptisms, confirmations, burials,
weddings, blessings of houses or objects)
insensitivity in hospitals and at funerals (meeting clergy rather than the bereaved
persons’ needs)
Racism, Anti-Semitism
participating in clubs and associations that exclude
people of color, Jews, etc.
Other – Pastoral &
Interpersonal
treating subordinates (staff and volunteers) as
dispensable “help”
violating private or confidential communications
public substance abuse
public, habitual foul language
lying; cover-up mistakes without remedying them