Maine church council to sponsor clergy misconduct program

The Maine Council of Churches and Bangor Theological Seminary will sponsor a daylong conference on clergy misconduct Friday at the First Congregational Church in South Portland.

The two organizations held a similar event 10 years ago.

The goals of “Responding Faithfully to Clergy Misconduct” include updating clergy on current psychosocial studies, legal considerations and preventive strategies that have emerged during the past decade.

Nancy Myer Hopkins, an after-care congregational consultant for 12 years and author of “The Congregational Response to Clergy Betrayal or Trust,” has organized the event.

She said Tuesday that the scope of the program is being broadened in the aftermath of news of the church poisonings in New Sweden. Presenters likely will include a discussion of dramatic events or betrayal of leadership in churches rather than keeping discussion to the more narrow topic of sexual misconduct.

“Virtually all faith traditions in Maine have experienced the pain of clergy sexual misconduct,” she said in announcing the event. “These are complex situations, and we must carefully navigate such turbulent waters.

“This workshop will be clear that there can be no more important ‘work of The Church’ than putting its own house in order. The church can then contribute to the enormous task of turning around one of the most pernicious forms of violence in our culture – sexual violence.”

The workshop presenters all live in Maine, yet have national prominence in the field of clergy misconduct and churches response to it. They include Episcopalians, a Presbyterian and a Roman Catholic.

Myer Hopkins will address congregational crisis and after-care issues, with special attention to lay and clerical leaders who follow in the wake of a congregation’s traumatic event.

She said Tuesday that events in New Sweden would be part of that discussion.

Other presenters and their topics include:

. The Rev. Marvin Ellison, professor of Christian ethics at Bangor Theological Seminary, who will address the need from an ethical framework that names misconduct as misuse of power and role, and who will look at the complexities of decision making.

. Richard Henriques, who has worked for the Episcopal Diocese of Maine for 10 years, directing practical preventive education for clergy and laity. He will address prevention education issues for clergy and congregations.

. The Rt. Rev. Harold A. Hopkins, a retired Episcopal bishop who had primary responsibility for development of the response of the Episcopal Church to clergy misconduct from 1988 to 1997. He will discuss after-care for clergy and congregations with his wife, Myer Hopkins, and address the heavy personal toll clergy misconduct can take on case managers and judicial officials.

. Ann Underwood, a lawyer who advises Jewish, Catholic and Protestant clergy and chaplaincy associations on the development of policies to promote ethical conduct and procedures to hold people accountable. She will discuss creating systems to accomplish restorative justice by applying fair process rather than due process models and practices.

To register for the event or for information, visit the Maine Council of Churches Web site at www.mainecouncilofchurches.org or call 772-1918.