LEADERSHIP FORUM
October 1, 1981
As we were researching this article, we called a well-known theologian for his ideas on divorced pastors. After talking at length about the issues, he cautioned, "Of course, this is all off the record. Publicly, I wouldn't touch this subject with a ten-foot pole."
In some ways, we wish we could just avoid it also. But a magazine aimed at helping pastors and church leaders today simply can't dismiss the enormity of the problem. On the one hand, we have our biblically based principles about the permanency of marriage and the sanctity of the ministry (exemplified and articulated by David and Helen Seamands, pp. 16-28). On the other hand, more and more ministers are getting divorced. One recent survey of divorce rates by profession found ministers with the third highest rate, behind only medical doctors and policemen. Other indicators on the survey suggest that the only reason ministers are not the most divorced is because many, for theological reasons, stick with tough marriages most would abandon. As Bud Pearson says in the Forum, "I could count twenty-five pastors in our singles ministry as recently as six months ago."
The problem is even greater than we had realized. But how can LEADERSHIP help without appearing to condone-much less endorse-divorced pastors? The temptation was to not say anything, but we didn't feel the issue could be sidestepped. It's become a practical problem many churches have, or will face.
We decided to pull together five divorced pastors and have them talk about their experiences from their point of view. Many readers will wonder about the wisdom of giving divorced ministers a platform from which to speak. For balance, we sent the Forum to seven Christian leaders for their reactions, which follow this ...
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