A majority of pastors in America believe that church leaders who commit sexual abuse on children or adults should be permanently banned from the ministry.
According to a survey conducted by Lifeway Research, a sizable majority of Protestant pastors in the United States hold such view regardless of the victim's age.
Over 4 in 5 or 83% of Protestant pastors believe that if a pastor commits child sexual assault, that individual should permanently retire from public ministry. Two percent (2%) believe pastors who commit sexual abuse must withdraw for a minimum 10 years, 3% believe at least five years, and 3% say two years.
Only a small percentage refers to a shorter time period, with 1% saying roughly one year, and less than 1% indicating at least three or six months respectively. About 7% said they were unsure of how long it should last.
The majority of pastors from every demographic group support a permanent expulsion from public ministry in the case of child sexual abuse, although some are more tolerant than others. Among those who are least likely to support permanent retirement are Pentecostal pastors (60%), African American pastors (67%), pastors without a college degree (69%), and pastors over the age of 65 (76%).
"The five years or less time frame, that 7% of pastors suggest is appropriate, does not even cover the length of the typical prison sentence for offenders convicted of sexual abuse," Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said. "In contrast, more than 10 times that number of pastors do not hesitate to say the disqualification from ministry should be permanent for a pastor who commits child sexual abuse."
As confirmation, statistics from the United States Sentencing Commission showed that 98.8% of sexual abuse perpetrators were sentenced to prison, with the average term being nearly 16 years.
Further in the research, 74% of Protestant pastors favor a lifetime ban from ministry for any pastor who commits sexual assault and abuse against any adult church member or personnel.
"When someone sexually assaults an adult, it is both a violent sin and a crime. It is the opposite of the love, care and respect toward another the Bible teaches," argued McConnell. "The role of pastor has incredibly high standards in the Bible, including that the overseer of those in the church be above reproach or beyond criticism. Seventeen percent of pastors think someone could move beyond reproach in this matter given enough time."
However, although overwhelming majorities think that ministers who conduct child or adult sexual misconduct should be permanently removed from ministry, just 27% agree that the same should be true if a pastor commits adultery while in the ministry.
According to an earlier Lifeway Research survey conducted in 2019, pastors' views on how to respond to adultery are much more split than their views on sexual assault.
"While adultery implies a consensual affair, it is not such a simple distinction for those serving in the role of pastor, as indicated by the 31% who were not sure in the previous survey," explained McConnell.
However, he maintained that "for a pastor who holds a position of trust and spiritual authority over those in their congregation, an adulterous relationship with one of them, where an imbalance of power exists, would still constitute sexual assault."
