Women and the Clergy Who Chase Them

I'm a little skeptical of the numbers in this report:

One in every 33 women who attend worship services regularly has been the target of sexual advances by a religious leader, a survey released Wednesday says.

The study, by Baylor University researchers, found that the problem is so pervasive that it almost certainly involves a wide range of denominations, religious traditions and leaders.

"It certainly is prevalent, and clearly the problem is more than simply a few charismatic leaders preying on vulnerable followers," said Diana Garland, dean of Baylor's School of Social Work, who co-authored the study.

It found that more than two-thirds of the offenders were married to someone else at the time of the advance.

One in 33 seems awfully high, given that there are thousands of congregations where this stuff has never happened.

Back when I was in the church insurance business I ran into a couple of situations in which pastors were accused of sexual misconduct, often occurring during counseling sessions. We had specific coverage in our policies just for that issue and were required to ask if anyone in the church had ever been accused of sexual misconduct. Some resulted in lawsuits, others were settled quietly to keep the story out of the news.

Many pastors have changed their counseling policies. Some won't do counseling at all, others insist that a female staff member be included in the counseling meetings to protect the pastor from a false allegation. Many pastor's offices also have windows in them to people outside can see what's going on inside, again as a protection for both the pastor and the counselee.

I remember reading stories about Billy Graham, and how when traveling he would never enter a hotel room alone. He always had someone go in first to make sure that nobody was in the room in an attempt to entrap him or accuse him of misconduct. Throughout his long ministry there was never an allegation against him.