I am sorry for my recent silence here on ChoGBlog. My father-in-law passed away a couple of weeks ago, necessitating travel and attention to family matters. I have several important articles in development, and look forward to getting these out soon.
It seems that hardly a week goes by without reading about yet another Christian leader disgraced because of revelations of some type of sexual misconduct and abuse. Ever since the eruption of the society-wide #MeToo movement in 2017, a shocking number of victims (mostly women) have come forward to share their painful experiences brought about by pastors and other Christian leaders. Most of us can think of highly regarded individuals in the church world who have fallen in this way.
Sadly, the sexual exploitation of the vulnerable by those in positions of power in the church is not new. For years, we were hearing stories coming out of the Roman Catholic church, smugly thinking that this was a problem somewhat unique to them. Of course, it was soon evident that these evils were happening elsewhere as well. Most recently, the Southern Baptist Convention has been rocked by a wide range of scandals and equally disturbing accounts of how they have been trying to minimize them, while at the same time vociferously defending their hardline position against the ordination of women.
The Church of God is also not immune to sexual sin.