Is Nothing Sacred?: The Story of a Pastor, the Women He Sexually Abused, and the Congregation He Nearly Destroyed

This book deals with the growing problem of male pastors sexually abusing their parishioners. What is intended to be a position of trust , is used in ways that can destroy lives. The pastor uses his power and pastoral office to victimize parishioners. The result is destruction of lives, marriages and sometimes congregations. I know the damage this can do, and of the problems people struggle with to put their lives back together. Ten years ago I left parish ministry in a congregation in the Midwest. I had spent two years there, following a pastor who had not only been sexually abusing that congregation, but also had been doing the same sexual abuse in his former parish. At that time the Bishop's office let him move, perhaps in hope against hope that he would not offend again. Now a strict policy has been formed to deal with the problem . There is also an effort to screen pastors to prevent such abuse by pastors. While it is not a poplular explanation today, some clergy are evil. This book is helpful and well worth reading, as are all her books. A few years ago, I heard Marie Fortune give a guest lecture at a Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. There were both male and female seminary students at the lecture, as well as a few pastors who had experienced the effects of a pastor who had sexually abused them or their congregation. Sadly, some of the male seminarians walked out of the lecture withn the first 15 minutes. August 9, 1999