Renewing Pastors
This site is not about condemnation. It is about help for those who struggle and for those who have fallen.“No one can predict what the Lord might do through the life of one repentant sinner. Sometimes a bird with a broken wing does soar again.”
—Erwin Lutzer
In his concern for pastors who have fallen, Dr Errol Lawrence of Canadian Union University College inquired:
“Are there solid biblical reasons or statements about a defrocked pastor not returning to his vocation? Does God forgive and restore us when we commit adultery? Does the church really understand the meaning of forgiveness? Does the church have a ministry of reconciliation for the people in which it has invested thousands of dollars year after year? Can God use a repentant, restored sinner to win souls? Is restoration a dirty word to some church leaders? What help is being given to local congregations or denominations whose pastors experience a moral fall? Does the church have a theology of restoration?”
In answer to his questions our response is, “There should be a theology of restoration. There should be an encouragement for those who struggle to overcome addictions. There should be grace and healing.”
This site is not about condemnation. It is about help for those who struggle and for those who have fallen. It is not about taking the same judgmental track as the church has taken in the past. It’s about restoration. Neither is it about leaving devastated victims or at risk families or broken pastors to lie abandoned in the agony of shame and pain. It is about an opportunity for healing.
Let’s face it, pastors and church leaders have the same psycho-sexual needs as anyone else. But, if we find ourselves less than perfect morally, pastors and prominent leaders have nowhere to turn for support. Anything less than moral perfection is considered heinous.
Consider the following comments by ministers. Do they describe your feelings? “If I had sexual frustrations in my marriage I would never go to a counselor, for fear my difficulties would leak out.” And another pastor said, “My denomination would forgive murder but not impurity of thought.”
So, here we are. Facing our challenges, often in dysfunctional churches, fighting and lonely, sometimes depressed because of disappointed hopes and dreams and sometimes in marriages where the wheels have fallen off. We pastors and leaders who struggle with faithfulness are not “bad” people. Many of us who have hurt our families or churches have also suffered. Like blind Bartimaeus we as leaders discover we need healing too. We have discovered that God heals and restores. It is all about his grace and timing.
This website uses research about pastors who have had an affair, faced temptation with pornography, or been inappropriately involved with someone other than a spouse. It is about healing the hurts that bind us, so we can be healthier in our ministry to others.
“No one should be defined by their addictions”
—Pr. David Bissell
Need to talk?
Please know that you’re not alone.