The Right Thing

I recently read an article in USA Today about an all too familiar issue in far too many churches today -- sexual abuse. It seems that the former youth ministries director at Vienna Presbyterian Church, which is located in Vienna, Virginia, was allegedly involved in inappropriate relationships with a number of girls in the congregation. We have unfortunately all seen many of these types of stories in the headlines in the past ten years or so.

This article was a little different though. Recently, some six years after that youth ministry director resigned, the church leadership apparently came to the conclusion that they did a poor job of responding after the allegations of abuse were reported. The question the church leadership now faced was "what to do about it?" The church was obviously confronted with, an continues to face, significant potential legal exposure. Even if the church did everything possible to avoid this type of situation, resulting lawsuits could easily destroy the church.

The church's insurance company made its position on how the situation needed to be handled very clear. In a letter written by an attorney retained by the insurance company, the church was warned "Do not make any statements, orally, in writing or in any manner, to acknowledge, admit to or apologize for anything that may be evidence of or interpreted as (a suggestion that) the actions of Vienna Presbyterian Church … caused or contributed to any damages arising from the intentional acts/abuse/misconduct" by the youth director.

The church's governing board faced a dilemma -- they could take the insurance company's advice or they could do what they considered to be the right thing and risk losing any insurance coverage for the potential claims. The church decided to ignore the insurance company's directions.

The day after the church received that letter from the lawyer, the board wrote a letter of its own -- to the congregation. In that letter, the board stated that the church was "profoundly sorry that [the church's] response after the abuse was discovered was not always helpful to those entrusted to our care." In his sermon the following Sunday, the church pastor told the congregation that the church wouldn't "hide behind lawyers." "Jesus said the truth will set us free" he said. Then, the pastor directly addressed the girls/women who were apparently involved. "Let me speak for a moment to our survivors," he said. "We, as church leaders, were part of the harm in failing to extend the compassion and mercy that you needed. Some of you felt uncared for, neglected and even blamed in this church. I am truly sorry … I regret the harm this neglect has caused you."

As a pastor and an elder, I can fully appreciate the decision made by the pastor and board of Vienna Presbyterian Church. I completely agree that as church leaders God is the only authority who really matters. In any difficult situation, church leaders need God's wisdom. We need to determine as best we can, through prayer and the Word of God, the right thing to do. And then whatever that "right thing" is, we need to do it.

As a lawyer (please do not mention that to anyone -- it is supposed to be a well-guarded secret!) I can also say that the "right thing" is not necessarily as clear as it might seem. I do not know enough about the facts and will not presume to second guess the board's decision. But I can say that jeopardizing the church's insurance coverage not only puts the church at risk, but it could create the possibility that money would not be available to pay for counseling or other needs of the survivors of the abuse.

I guess my point is that we live in a complicated world. All of us face choices from time to time for which the Bible gives us only general guidance. In those situations, it is up to us to make the best decisions we can. And, the only way we can really do that is by searching the Bible, praying for wisdom, and getting the counsel of other believers who we trust. Sometimes doing the right thing is the hard part. But, sometimes just figuring out the right thing to do is even tougher.

I hope and pray that the actions of the board and pastor at Vienna Presbyterian Church bring healing to the entire congregation of that church, and particularly to the "survivors." I pray that where faith has been shaken God will bring restoration and renewal. And, I thank God that the board and pastor of Vienna Presbyterian Church had the strength to do what they believed to be the right thing.