accountability
How purity invites fraud
What explains the deep relationship between sex abuse, charlatanism, and religious purity movements? Sarah Posner, writing on the Duggar family and its connections to the world of separatist Christian homeschooling, details not just the accusations of sexual misconduct made against Josh Duggar but also those made against Bill Gothard, the leader of the fundamentalist movement with which the family has long been closely associated.
But I thought dead-tree media was more accountable to the facts!
David Brooks says some silly stuff, but his June 14 column included a doozy even for him: "In Corinthians, Jesus tells the crowds..." The text was soon corrected to identify the letter as First Corinthians and its writer as Paul, though as of today it still has him telling crowds things. Whatever.
Michael Peppard finds the error ironic.
Peer power: The promise of clergy support groups
When clergy
meet regularly in a "community of practice," they find that trust develops, anxieties diminish,
and challenges turn into occasions for learning.
A room of our own
Impulsively, I e-mailed three
other clergywomen and invited them to participate in a
writing group. Their responses came
quickly and enthusiastically: Yes. I'm in. I need this.
Freedom and accountability
Every pastor needs to address the issue of freedom and accountability. It's part of the pastor's role in nurturing a church community: neither a laissez-faire atmosphere nor a judicial one helps people grow as disciples.
A careful read: Matthew 18:15-20
These six verses of Matthew do not mean that if two or three people agree on something, then they can ignore others and do whatever they want.
Tough love for sexual abusers
Outrage, accountability, forgiveness, potential reconciliation