Doing Right while Doing Good: An Exploration of Ministerial Ethics

Endnotes

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Ken Bickel

Many fine people (mostly Christians) have influenced me over the years since I accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior and Master. A few of them (mostly unknowingly) nudged me toward the writing of a book on ministerial ethics. The main Encourager was the Lord Himself who woke me from an afternoon nap while I was visiting my son and his family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and impressed upon me the call to write on this issue. I have not experienced many existential episodes such as that, but that incident was very real and compelling. Thus, I give the Lord the primary and predominant credit for this book which, of course, He deserves. He not only initiated the project but, I believe, superintended it all along the way. Thanks be to God.

I wish to acknowledge also the administration of Grace College and Seminary who allowed me sabbatical leave to actually accomplish the bulk of the writing of the book. My years spent at Grace have been very fulfilling, my colleagues have been very nurturing, and my students have taught me much. The students of the Doctor of Ministry course on Ministerial Ethics helped me immensely to synthesize and organize the research I had been conducting over a series of years. Those students were a great blessing to me. My seminary colleagues have been, as well. A special word of thanks to Grace student Kevin Becker, who helped me stylistically so the end product could be much more readable.

Thanks go out as well to Terry White and his staff at BMH Books. I’m very thankful to them for their willingness to publish this work, and for their patience in waiting for it to be completed.

I am indebted to many pastoral colleagues with whom I rubbed shoulders as I served on the Executive Committee of the Association of Grace Brethren Ministers, the national ministerial association of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. During that time, two colleagues—Dr. Terry Hofecker and Dr. Larry Edwards—worked with me to construct a suggested Code of Ethics which the Ministerial Association then offered to all its members as a starting point which they could use to develop a code of ethics that would be appropriate to their own ministry settings. Terry’s and Larry’s work helped me immensely to further organize and articulate the ideas that became the skeleton of this book. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

I’m thankful that the Lord brought me into contact with a fine Christian gentleman and lawyer named Kevin Vanderground, who was interested in collaborating with me on this work. He is thoroughly Christian, loves the local church, and provides valuable insights on the legal issues that can arise when ministerial ethics are ignored.

Finally, thanks so much to my wife Doris for supporting me in so many ways over 46 years of marriage. It’s been a great blessing to grow up with you.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Kevin Vanderground

Thanks be to God for blessing me beyond imagination.

Special thanks to my parents for investing countless hours, dollars, and prayers into their son. Also, the myriad of professors, mentors and friends who have shaped and challenged my thinking are to be thanked. Pastor Brad Quick, now home with the Lord, provided a pristine example of ethics in ministry for the nearly 20 years he was my pastor. Pastor David Guess has demonstrated a genuine commitment to Scripture and caused me to think more deeply on nearly every topic, this one included. Pastor Justin Guess has stretched my mind and simultaneously reminds me that none of this is merely academic.

Thank you, Ken Bickel, for inviting me to work with you in an area where you need no assistance. It has been an honor and a joy. Ken provides intellectual capability with a heart for the church that has been of profound value to hundreds of local churches through his work training the students of Grace Theological Seminary.

Thank you, Tara, for being my wife, for your love and faithfulness, and for being the best mother to our children I could ever ask for. I am blessed.

FORWARD

Knute Larson

All of us who embrace the Bible as truthful and authoritative know it is our best guide for a good life.

And all of us who teach it and follow its plan for the church desire to obey it. We even raise our right hands—okay, accept the ordination charge—to do what it says. To be good.

But then we live out a schedule filled with ethical decisions big and small, and most of them were not covered in seminary or an internship.

This book addresses those, and I believe many will be bolstered in their goodness. The issues addressed are the questions that come up when pastors are having coffee with each other, or expressing frustrations in a ministerium.

And not only do Ken and Kevin hit tough issues, big and small, and very clearly, they do it with clarity. No reader will be guessing at what is recommended.

I had an aunt who used to say goodbye to me as a child and then always add, Be good. Of course I smiled. But exactly what does that look like?

These chapters answer that for church leaders, as least related to their vocation and relationships.

At the least—though this is not small—the proposed ethical commitments could be used by a church staff for a code of conduct. If colleagues who serve together would pledge together, there would be fewer headaches.

And if a group of pastors in a community or fellowship of churches embraced these as goals and agreements with each other well, we would be talking about a new day.

Whole denominations, liking the intentions written so carefully, could urge their pastors to practice these promises. They are about honor to each other, ethics related to people who transfer between churches, and ways to count on each other.

Are we dreaming to think pastors and other church leaders could care about kingdom relationships, integrity, faith, and submission to our God in the way we treat each other? Maybe, but many good things start with dreams.

Case studies are everywhere, and most of them sound familiar. I was there, or close by, in my 43 years of pastoring. I wish I would have had this on my desk then. The examples are real. The suggested code of ethics for most situations is concise, fair, and sensible.

The chapter on your own heart and home is very personal, and proposes some ethics promises that only you would know if you were keeping, 13 of them. And all are ones we should know we are keeping—about spiritual health, marriage, kids, and time, among others.

In the chapter on your local congregation, one proposal reads, I will attempt to give my flock my best energies and efforts, not as a reluctant employee, but as Christ’s steward of my calling, carefully managing my time, energy, and passion in the conduct of my ministry.

That would be a healthy commitment for all of us to make. And it would not hurt to know the staff partner down the hall shared the same intentions. And the other 14 in this chapter about the local church are even more tangible.

Then there is the chapter on colleagues in ministry—even an attempt at what is ethical when a pastor retires, as to staying around or not. There are also guidelines proposed about how we speak of each other, or handle the fallen.

Life in the Community suggests a few ethics goals that would really be a stretch for a lot of us, but everyone knows stretching is good for a team. And this whole book is, in a way, trying to establish healthy teamwork and family life among followers of Christ.

With careful integrity all along.

The last three chapters are all about a high calling, as the writers describe our way of living as pastors and staffers. Taking these teachings and proposed ethics agreements to heart would really elevate the way churches and their leaders make decisions, and are viewed by others.

This should be really good for all of us!

Knute Larson

Pastoral Coach and Teacher

Pastor, The Chapel,

Akron, OH

1983-2009

PREFACE

This is a book about ethics, as applied to those involved in vocational ministry within the Christian faith. More specifically, as we write we will have local church pastors (senior leader or associate) in mind. This is not intended to convey any disregard for those vocational ministry servants who are not pastors, for example, missionaries, Christian school teachers, seminary professors, or parachurch ministry servants. We treasure these ministry workers, but the topic of ministerial ethics is large enough that it seems wise to focus on one category and write with them in mind. We have decided that category will be pastors.

We have sought to highlight some prominent issues and to identify some generally accepted standards (as well as legally mandated norms) that should govern the conduct of the members of this special profession. However, this book is not devoted simply to defining and encouraging proper behaviors. Stimulating thinking, strengthening values, encouraging some current commitments, and challenging potentially suspect ideas or behaviors are the key ingredients in arriving at our goal. Viewed broadly, this book seeks to promote just and righteous living among professional ministers.

While we understand that the word professional has stirred debate within some Christian circles about the appropriateness of vocational ministers viewing themselves as professionals, we have chosen not to engage that argument. When we use the word professional it simply stands synonymous to vocational.

The readers we are targeting serve in the conservative end of the Protestant, evangelical spectrum in the United States. If others outside that spectrum benefit from the material contained herein, we would count it an added blessing.

As we wrote we envisioned ministerial associations—professional societies to which pastors, missionaries, and other vocational servants might belong—standing in the background. We challenge these associations to consider these issues and embrace the cause of promoting a code of ethics which might be used by each member. We encourage all vocational ministers to use such a code of ethics as a template to prompt discussion, understanding, and expectations among the leadership of their local churches. It would therefore be the local church leadership’s responsibility to hold pastors accountable. To be clear, we assert our belief that it is appropriate for local church leadership bodies to hold vocational Christian servants accountable for ethical behavior, and that Christian servants should willingly submit to that accountability.

If the ideas and encouragements are used of the Lord to restrain harmful decisions and behaviors, thus lessening the possible negative impact upon the Church of Jesus Christ and upon His name, we will be ecstatic.

Because of changing values and traditions, both of which undergird some areas of the ethics of vocational ministry, we have benefited greatly by wise feedback from doctoral students of Grace Theological Seminary as they completed research and then discussed their findings in ministry-oriented academic settings. We are greatly indebted to them for their help.

Kenneth Bickel

Kevin Vanderground

INTRODUCTION

The associate pastor of City Community Church is a multi-talented young man with great people skills. His senior pastor, also a highly gifted ministry servant, values and trusts his young associate. The younger adults of City Community are calling for some changes to be made in the worship services and children’s ministries of the church. The senior pastor pays attention to these calls for change, but is inclined to move slowly, to allow the church body needed time to adjust to and embrace the changes. The reach and the rate of the initial phase of changes fall short of the younger adults’ desires and expectations. These younger adults begin to voice their complaints to the associate pastor. He commiserates with them, but expresses that he is basically powerless to move things along faster and further.

With frustration mounting, several of the young adults begin to voice the idea of breaking away from the larger group, perhaps becoming their own congregation, but remaining under the umbrella of their present church’s organization. As that conversation continues over a period of weeks, the younger adults decide that even that idea would move too slowly and would probably not produce the results they desire. So, they begin to talk about breaking away completely and starting their own church. They approach the associate pastor with the idea and invite him to become their pastor. He finds the idea appealing, but cautions that the discussions of that possibility need to be kept secret until final decisions are made. Secrecy is preserved and the group moves persistently toward forming a new church, gathering more young adults to the idea as the weeks pass by.

When the time seems right, their intentions are announced to the senior pastor. The young adults don’t seek his support or advice, but simply inform him that their plan will be carried out within a matter of days. The senior pastor is dumbfounded, crushed, and deeply offended by what he perceives as a betrayal of the trust he has placed in his associate pastor. He cries foul to his associate and to the young adults.

They don’t understand why; they had already considered their actions in light of what the Bible might have to say. Without finding a biblical prohibition on a group within a local church branching out on their own, they concluded that they had the freedom to do so. In fact, they saw it as a legitimate step of furthering the Kingdom. The associate pastor, for his part, saw nothing wrong with answering the call from another group of Christians to become their pastor. If a church from another state called him to become their pastor, and he agreed to do so, most people in the church would not view that as unethical. This situation isn’t so much different from accepting such a call from another