1.3 Authority, trust, and accountability in clergy ministry

1.3.1 The reality of pastoral power

Whether you want it or not, clergy ministry carries power. This is not only “institutional power” (titles, roles, office). It is also relational and spiritual power.

People may experience clergy as:

• God’s representative (even if you do not claim this)
• a moral authority whose approval or disapproval matters
• a gatekeeper to sacramental life, community belonging, and spiritual reassurance
• a confidant who has access to secrets and shame
• a guide in crisis, when a person’s judgement is compromised by fear, grief, trauma, or dependency

This creates asymmetry. The relationship is not “equal” in the way two friends are equal. Even when clergy are gentle and informal, the power still exists because of what the role signifies to the other person.

That is why safeguarding insists on a higher discipline for clergy, not a lower one.

1.3.2 Why trust increases your duty

In ordinary life, trust is earned slowly. In ministry, it is often granted quickly. Many people will assume you are safe before they have evidence that you are safe. That is the nature of the office.

Therefore, clergy safeguarding must be disciplined:

• you do not exploit trust
• you do not create secrecy
• you do not create dependency
• you do not blur roles in ways that confuse consent
• you keep accountability structures around you even when you feel confident in your intentions

If you are safe only when you are being watched, you are not safe. But if you refuse to be watched because you are “above suspicion”, you are already becoming unsafe.

1.3.3 Accountability is not optional

Safeguarding collapses where clergy become exceptional. “Exceptional” can sound holy (“gifted”, “anointed”, “beloved by the people”), but it often becomes a shield against scrutiny.

A safeguarding-standard minister is one who:

• welcomes oversight
• accepts limits without resentment
• knows that transparency protects everyone
• understands that an accusation is not a conviction, but it is always serious enough to be handled properly
• refuses to let friendships, loyalty, or fear of conflict distort duty

Accountability is not hostility. It is one of the ways ministry stays clean.