Thoughts on Welcoming Back a "Restored" Pastor
Watching the events unfold at The Village, with Matt Chandler, gave me flashbacks to when I worked at a church that likewise welcomed back their Pastor with a standing ovation. đ¤˘
WHEN PASTORS GO ON A âLEAVE OF ABSENCEâ
Yesterday in a Dallas suburb an evangelical megachurch called The Village welcomed back to the stage their famous preacher, Matt Chandler.
If you donât know this story (which is for the best), Chandler has not been working since back in August when a law firm, investigating DMs sent to a woman in their community, found them to be unfitting of Chandlerâs pastoral position and determined that he should be put on a âdisciplinary and developmentalâ leave of absence.
What exactly were the nature of those messages? We still donât know. Chandler himself says they were neither âsexual nor romantic,â and only describes them as âunguarded and unwise⌠coarse and foolish joking thatâs unbefitting of someone in my position.â
Though much could be said about the topic of evangelical pastors and their propensity to eff-up because of things such as:
lack of accountability,
theology that represses all things sexual and creates a culture of shame,
the unwitting damage caused by male-centric leadership in churches,
the ignorant (at best) and malicious (at worse) misuse of power,
the ways in which pastoral power goes to menâs heads (both of them)
and more,
this article today is not about that.
Rather, I want to share what came up for me while reading about this story. Specifically about how the church leadership handled Chandlerâs âleave of absence,â and how the congregation then welcomed their pastor back with a standing ovation.
Because thatâs exactly what happened at a church I worked at nine years ago.
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