Pastoral Ethics

“the PCA significantly strengthened its commitment to complementarianism… by starting the process to clarify the Book of Church Order by adding the language: Furthermore, unordained people shall not be referred to as, or given the titles of, the ordained offices of pastor/elder, or deacon.” - World

“The heart of Hunt’s claim of invasion of privacy and defamation was summed up in a recent court ruling filed by his attorneys. Hunt’s sins, they wrote, were a private moral failing that should have been kept confidential.” - RNS

“Anabaptist Bruxy Cavey preached ‘Jesus over religion’ and drew record crowds of Canadians who were put off by traditional church. Now they’re reckoning with their former leader’s misconduct.” - CToday

“Plagiarism controversies and a growing sermon-prep industry bring attention to a question pastors face when preparing material for the pulpit: How much borrowing is too much?” - WORLD

Related at TGC: How to Use Resources to Preach Well (and Avoid Plagiarism)

“When Reese typed the sermon title into Google, a link to her pastor’s latest sermon series popped up. But so did a three-year-old series from a church in Kentucky. The Kentucky sermon was almost identical to the sermon her pastor had preached.” - RNS

“Here are six telltale signs that you may be on the receiving end of emotional manipulation” - C.Leaders

“At the heart of all plagiarism are two sins: (1) theft and (2) deception. When a preacher plagiarizes he is not merely making an ‘unwise decision’ or engaging in ‘immature indiscretion.’ He is violating both the eighth and ninth commandments (Ex. 20:15–16). He is insulting a true and holy God.” - TGC

“ ‘Pastors’ Views on Moral Failures,’ conducted by Nashville-based LifeWay Research…’There is widespread disagreement from pastors across denominations, church size, age, race, and education levels to quickly restoring pastors who commit adultery to public ministry positions.’” - Church Leaders

“A husband and wife team of pastors from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, are now facing tough questions after selling their longtime church to developers then splurging on a million dollar luxury lakefront home while telling their members that God now wants them to worship in ‘micro churches’ held in their homes.” - Christian Post

“Barely half consider clergy to be trustworthy, and only slightly more regard them as ‘honest and intelligent.’ Remember these are people who attend church at least once a month! Among those who seldom or never attend church, the respective numbers on those questions are 23 and 30 percent. The obvious question is why?” - BreakPoint