VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 11/09/06)-The Ministers Council presents a new resource for collegial discussion on the Covenant and Code of Ethics for Ministerial Leaders. The Learning Guide may be downloaded from http://www.ministerscouncil.com/WhoWeAre/CodeofEthicsLearningGuide.aspx.
The Ministers Council first developed the Covenant and Code of Ethics for Ministerial Leaders in 1937 and has revised it periodically to maintain a high standard for professional ministers. The new Learning Guide provides a way for those concerned with ministerial ethics to wrestle with the specific application of standards to real-life situations. The Learning Guide invites individuals, alone or with a group of pastoral colleagues or lay leaders, to study the Biblical foundation for each ethical statement and consider how he or she might apply the standard. The hope is that ministers using the Learning Guide will internalize the code and recognize areas in which they need to "raise the bar." Those hiring, firing, and evaluating ministers will benefit from the Learning Guide, as well, by having a clear understanding of expectations of ministers in areas such as self-care, counseling procedures, confidentiality, and transition behaviors.
Writers are members of the Professional Effectiveness Committee of the Ministers Council. Michael Harvey, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Conference Ministers, and Dee Dee Turlington, Senior Minister of the First Baptist Church of Westfield, New Jersey, have served as editors.
Michael Harvey described the development of the resource by saying, "The structure of this Learning Piece is simple: A statement on each section of the Code of Ethics from one of the members of the Professional Effectiveness Committee is followed by questions to stimulate thinking together by colleagues. The statements are to give you some of the thinking of the people who have been deliberating about the Code of Ethics at the national Ministers Council Senate for several years. These writers are about as diverse as could be gathered in a committee of American Baptist pastors. Though they had disagreements, they were of the same mind in regard to the final revision of the Code of Ethics. You can see their differences in the statements."
Dee Dee Turlington added, "Simply editing this material was a learning experience for me. I realized there are situations where my simple 'one size fits all' understanding of an ethical principle didn't fit after all, as when rural folks offer products to their pastor because that's the only way they can say 'thank you.' And many of the pieces reminded me of things I know but ignore, like the importance of keeping Sabbath. I am glad this resource is available to me and my colleagues."
The Ministers Council website provides numerous resources free of charge for pastoral and congregational leaders at www.ministerscouncil.com.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/