Minnesota Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church ...

300. CONFERENCE OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES / POLICIES continued . . .
To restore the well-being of the congregation and others who have been affected.
To treat everyone involved with fairness, respect and compassion that our faith demands.
DEFINING CLERGY SEXUAL MISCONDUCT: WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT IS WRONG
Any sexual contact or sexualized behavior between a pastor and a person with whom he or she
has a professional relationship is clergy sexual misconduct.
Because clergy persons are in a position of trust and authority, there is an imbalance of power
between a pastor and a person with whom the pastor has a ministerial relationship. Although the
imbalance is greatest when someone has sought the advice or counsel of a pastor in a time of
stress, it is inherent in the ministerial relationship and is always present.
Because of this unequal power, a parishioner or employee cannot give meaningful consent to
sexual contact with a pastor. No matter who initiated the contact, it is the pastor’s responsibilities to
maintain the proper boundaries of the relationship. A pastor who initiates sexual contact or allows it
to occur has crossed the boundaries and committed a breach of professional ethics.
Clergy sexual misconduct includes actual sexual assault and sexual intercourse. It also includes
more subtle contact. This conduct may be physical contact or verbal behavior, including behavior
that creates a hostile or intimidating environment and the explicit or implicit use of authority or
power to coerce someone into sexual contact.
The statements on clergy sexual misconduct also apply to any person serving as ministers or
counselors, or in other positions of power or authority in the local church or annual conference,
which can include both laity and clergy in a variety of circumstances.
IS SEXUAL CONTACT WITH MY PASTOR EVER APPROPRIATE
It is not unusual for a member of a congregation to feel attracted to his or her pastor. There is
nothing wrong with you just because you have these feelings. If you express your feelings, it is your
pastor’s professional responsibility to explain why a relationship would be inappropriate. He or she
should do so in a manner that respects your feelings and does not make you feel bad about
yourself. In other words, by “rejecting” you, your pastor is maintaining the integrity of the ministerial
relationship between the two of you.
It is extremely complicated and never advisable for a pastor to enter into a romantic relationship
with a member of his or her congregation. If there is a mutual interest and relatively equal power
between the pastor and the parishioner (which there must be in order for meaningful consent by
the parishioner to be possible), the pastor may ethically pursue the relationship only after fully
removing himself or herself from the ministerial relationship with the parishioner. This is done by
the pastor notifying the superintendent of his or her intention to enter into this relationship, and then
for either the pastor or the parishioner to leave that congregation. If the pastor has ever served as
counselor to the parishioner, it will be very difficult to divest himself or herself of the ministerial
office in relationship to this parishioner.
Unwillingness by the pastor to be open and honest with the congregation about the relationship
may indicate that manipulation is present and that a healthy relationship is not possible.
Minnesota Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church 22
Policy and Procedure Manual — June 2012