Dreaded words...

Thanks to David, I was directed to reading this provocative article on the young clergywomen's blogsite, Fidelia's Sisters. Susan Olsen writes about those dreaded words.... sexual harassment. There's lots of stuff that strikes me in this article. She talks about how we've done a good job in the Church in the last decade teaching clergy about how to proper boundaries and understandings of how to relate to lay people so that we're not sexually harassing others. The more interesting thing to me is the good observation she makes about how the Church has not done a good job teaching congregants about how what sexual harrassment is towards their clergy. And as her statistics share, many young clergywomen have experienced some form of sexual harassment (as they understand it), in their ministry context. Everything from comments about dress and appearance to someone talking about being raped by the head of the church's personnel committee are mentioned as experiences young clergy have had to deal with. And, according to her research, older clergywomen experience less harassment-- whether new to ministry or have been at it awhile. Harassment does not seem to play a huge role in the reasons clergywomen leave ministry....
I know I've experienced my share of sexual harassment in my ten years in ministry. In my last appointment I experienced it both from heterosexual people and from gay men in my congregation--which was a wierd and wild thing to behold. In that same appointment I dealt with lay person to lay person sexual harassment-- something that fractured the congregation due to the "he said, she said," nature of the situation...and these were older people involved in it!
All of which is to say-- it is important for the Church to think about ways to talk with congregations about how to treat one another and their pastor. It is a fine and hard line to walk, I realize. Persons often don't think about the comments they make or the ways their interactions with clergy can be perceived. And while it is important for us clergy folk to take a step back and think about where the comments are coming from, sometimes that can be really hard. (Especially if you are pregnant and hormonal! Can I get an Amen?!?)
I hope you will read the article and let me know your thoughts...