Sex, Morality and the Protestant Minister

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What sexual standards should the clergy obey?

By Kenneth L. Woodward

ALTHOUGH HE WASN'T MARRIED himself, Jesus had some rather clear teachings on the subject. Adultery was sin, he declared, and that included even lustful looks at another woman. He was tough on di­vorce, too, saying that anyone who divorces and marries another also commits adultery. But the authori­ty of Scripture isn't what it used to be—even for those who preach it from the pulpit. In recent years the divorce rate for Protestant clergy has risen to match the gen­eral population's. Now the question is, Are the Scriptures condemning adultery and fornication to be modified as well?

It's not an idle inquiry. Various surveys suggest that as many as I 30 percent of male Protestant ministers have had sexual rela­tionships with women other than their wives. This sum­mer three Protestant church­es, meeting in solemn as­sembly, addressed issues involving sexual standards for their clergy. The General Synod of the United Church of Christ tabled a resolution that would have "encouraged fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness" for all ordained min­isters. That left in place a looser formu­lation that enjoins all members to observe "integrity and faithfulness" in marriage and in other "covenanted relationships"—a phrase that conservative critics say gives approval to gay and other nonmarital sexual relationships.

In June the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) debated an amendment to its constitution, which re­quires all church officials to be faithful in marriage and chaste if single. But so many congregations threatened to ignore the amendment that assembly delegates voted to drop the chastity requirement. And last week in Philadelphia, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church opened with delegates steeled for a heated debate over a similar set of resolutions defining the sexual standards expected of its clergy.

To a large extent, the issue of clerical morality is driven by the debate over or­daining sexually active homosexuals. All three denominations have clergy who are living with members of the same sex, and some of these ministers regard their rela­tionships as more "spiritual" and less "sex­ist" than heterosexual marriage. Hence this year's effort by traditionalists to tighten up the rules on clerics' private lives. But the new rules apply also to heterosexual minis­ters. So one unintended result of the debate on gays is the bright light it beams on the sexual morality of straight clergy.

Although religious denominations do not audit clerical infidelity (or divorce), outside sources do. In 1993 The Journal of Pastoral Care reported a survey of Southern Baptist pastors in which 14 percent acknowledged that they had engaged in "sexual behavior inappropriate to a minister." More startling, 70 percent said that they had counseled at least one woman who had had intercourse with another minister. In 1988 a survey of nearly 1,000 Protestant clergy by Leader­ship magazine found that 12 percent admit­ted to sexual intercourse outside marriage. Seventeen percent of these affairs occurred with people they were counseling, and 52 percent involved members, ministers or other leaders of their own congrega­tion. An additional 18 percent dis­closed that they had kissed, fondled or masturbated with someone oth­er than their spouse. When asked what consequences they had suf­fered—in their marriages or their careers—as a result of their sexual adventures, only 6 percent said that they had lost their jobs. And nearly a third reported no adverse consequences of any kind.

Powerful attraction: Just last week the board of the National Baptist Convention, the na­tion's largest black denomi­nation, gave a vote of confi­dence to its president, the Rev. Henry J. Lyons, de­spite considerable skep­ticism about his rela­tionship with another church officer. A week earlier, Florida police had reported Lyons's wife of 25 years told them she had discovered that her husband and Bernice Edwards owned a $700,000 home. Police also filed report that the pair had bought a $30,000 diamond ring and made $100,000 in other purchases. Rev­erend Lyons has denied any misconduct, and his wife now supports his statement. In all walks of life, charismatic figures exude a powerful attraction to the opposite sex. Charismatic clergy have the added aura of representing God or channeling the Holy Spirit. That's why Billy Graham, for example, decided early in his ministry nev­er to be alone with a woman other than his wife. Few others are so fastidious. A gener­ation ago, philandering clergy usually lost their jobs. That still happens. But in an age when adultery is tolerated in political and other leaders, religious denominations are hesitant to set too high a standard for their own. What some Protestant denominations seem to believe is that sexual behavior is ei­ther too personal to legislate or too trivial to condemn.

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