The present crisis in the church—not just the Roman church but in all the churches—centers in toxic male power.
It would be a mistake to make the crisis about sex (though I am interested in a separate discussion about celibacy).
Sexual abuse is about power, about objectifying, predatory behavior toward women and children. Abusive male power is everywhere under judgment and it’s about time the church caught up.
This crisis is about entitled male leaders who believe their positions grant them the unholy privilege to take whatever they want whenever and wherever they want it. And then to cover for each other or allow other lay leaders to cover for them based on this same unholy privilege.
How far this is from the model of our crucified God, who tells us he is the servant of every human person!
I do think that *part* of the solution is removing the exalted status we afford our pastors by:
— lead and teaching pastors sitting down during the homily/sermon on a regular basis to listen to the laity in our communities share their stories and their experiences and their thoughts about our life in God. Women, the young, persons of color, the elderly, and the marginalized need to be heard for the whole church to heed what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
— insisting that church leaders be available and answerable to the communities they serve, especially when the community gathers, but also throughout the week. We need pastors who stay in worship spaces and greet the people, finding out what’s going on in their lives. We need pastors who dwell in and among their people during the week and bear their burdens with them. Someone told me that the magicians Penn and Teller greet every person who comes to their shows who wants to see them. The church is not a show and pastors are not entertainers—that horrific model of church also needs to end—but this principle of making time for everyone is the same. What pastor is so busy that they cannot reprioritize servant-hearted availability toward all those they serve?
—opposing clericalism in the sacramental churches (where the priest is the center of the community instead of Jesus, where the laity are not activated and helping to speak and lead) and opposing what my friend Rich Villados calls “celebrity pastoral culture” in the free churches (where the lead and teaching pastors are aloof and unavailable, where leaders are treated like rock stars instead of as servants of the servants of God).
—reading and listening to black and female voices writing and speaking on social justice (this need is acute in the American Church in particular). There are unique, pertinent lessons for toxic cultures of male power in these voices that cannot be found elsewhere.
—making sure that pastors have pastors and accountability partners. No servant of the servants of God can lead the church without a willingness to also be led and held accountable.
—empowering lay leadership at every level of the church that partners with heads of communities to share the load of the ministry together in humility.
—psychological and temperamental screenings in tandem with seasoned discerning mentors in the education and formation period for clergy and lay leaders that identifies narcissistic personality disorder and unmasks areas of brokenness and disorder in those preparing to serve the church.
I could go on.
We had a “moment” about some of this after the children were dismissed this morning and for some reason, it was a lot more raw and thus better delivered in that context of worship than the above.
These are the kinds of conversations that need to be happening in all of the churches until we recapture the sense that leading in the church looks like taking a knee and washing feet, not having your feet washed.
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