BaptistLife.Com Forums.

With the custodian, it's sexual harrassment in the workplace. With a teen, grounds for immediate dismissal even if there was no criminal conduct. His career needed to be stopped. I think the ministers acted inappropriately.

What constitutes ground for starting a new thread? The board seems to be losing its way in that regard.

One of the things that keeps occurring here is the use of "accountability groups." The truth is that in Baptist life there is no requirement of accountability beyond that to the deacons, personnel committee, or pastor/church relations committee of the local church. There are no requirements for participation in peer groups of any sort in most churches. It would seem to me that one way to approach this might be to build into pastor/church covenants a requirement that ministers participate in such an accountability group that sits down together at least once each month.

I am very thankful that in my first pastorate, a local hospital chaplain invited me into such a group about 4 weeks after I arrived on the field. I was involved in a pilot project in the 1980's and 1990's to create ministerial support groups in NC. I have been involved since 2003 with CBF's Initiative for Ministerial Excellence and Peer Learning Groups. There are people who drive 50 miles one way to participate because there is nothing of a similar nature available in their local areas. Christa is on the right track about accountability groups, but despite all the emphasis given to them, they are few in number and not easily accessible to many ministers.