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Ethics for Christian Ministry: Moral Formation for Twenty-First-Century Leaders
This one-of-a-kind resource in professional ethics helps today's Christian leaders maintain a high moral character and lifestyle and sharpen their personal and professional decision-making skills. Two experienced teachers and pastors address both current and perennial ethical issues and offer guidance for developing a personal code of ethics to maintain integrity in the work of ministry. The authors address the nature of ethical decision making as well as practical areas where integrity can be compromised, including issues raised by the use of smartphones and social media. Appendixes include codes of ethics from various denominations.
- GenresLeadership
288 pages, Paperback
Published November 7, 2017
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July 14, 2021
This review was originally published in the Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care, Vol. 12 No. 1 (May 2019): 160-163.
The rapidly changing context of our morally uncertain age has not left Christian ministers unscathed, writes Joe E. Trull, a retired Baptist ethicist. Trull, who authored the first two and final two chapters of Ethics for Christian Ministry: Moral Formation for 21st-Century Leaders, argues, “The present crisis in ministerial ethics is both a reflection of our times and an influence on our society. Ethical failure in the pulpit affects the pew. At the same time, clergy morals seem to mirror the general decline in morality among the laity” (2). In Chapter 1, he navigates the difficulties entailed in defining and describing the nature of pastoral ministry – is it a vocation, a profession, a career, or all of the above? Trull considers John Piper’s emphatic denial that pastors are professionals, explores the history of professions and the meaning of “professional”,*1 and concludes that although Christian ministry is both more and less than a profession, the term still fits in significant ways, such that “there is more to be gained than lost by a minister assuming the designation of a professional” (21). This leads to the core aim of the project: “The heart of this book is an attempt to explain what this commitment to an ethical ministry means in these various arenas of the minister’s life. Without being legalistic, we will attempt to apply and illustrate the ethical demands the gospel makes on the professional life of the Christian minister” (23). Trull develops this goal further in Chapter 2, highlighting the centrality of integrity as the “element that unifies character, conduct, and moral vision” – that is, the harmonization of being, doing, and living – in the Christian minister’s vocation and the making of moral choices (29).
Over the next four chapters, R. Robert Creech, a professor of pastoral leadership at Baylor University, extends this integrity framework across various dimensions of relationships involved in Christian ministry: personal life and family, congregation, ministry peers and colleagues, and wider community. He explains that a variety of approaches to ministerial ethics are needed: “Virtue and character underlie such a life as they are formed with faithful spiritual practices and in connection with faithful Christian communities. Principles and rules of life are woven into the fabric of ministry, not arbitrarily but with reflection and understanding. Moral values are clarified as one lives within a faithful community, listening to the biblical texts … while worshipping and obeying the God who is holy, just, and compassionate” (51). In Chapter 3 he underscores the need for a “moral immune system” comprising each area of a minister’s personal life, undergirded by features such as healthy relationships, secure finances, structures of accountability, and balanced time management. Creech expands his frame of reference in Chapter 4 to encompass the congregation, emphasizing the need for mutual clarity regarding expectations of the responsibilities included in the pastoral role. He notes, “Congregations thrive in the care of pastors who are able to deliver competent proclamation, pastoral care, and leadership” (77), before offering further suggestions for each arena and admonishing about the coercive (indeed, often interlocking) temptations of money, sex, and power. In Chapter 5, Creech warns against the dangers of competition with colleagues and subordinates and calls for a culture of collaboration within and across ministries, including with predecessors and successors. The wider community is the focus of Chapter 6, as Creech navigates the nuances involved in pursuing justice and fostering peace in society. He commends a hands-on approach and advises, “Pastors who seek to engage their communities authentically as part of their calling will choose to become servants of the community before they attempt to become its prophets” (135).
Trull takes back the reins in Chapter 7 with a sobering exploration of clergy sexual abuse. He identifies precisely the deeper issue at stake: “Clergy sexual exploitation is not primarily about sex. It is an abuse of power expressed in a highly destructive sexual manner…. Only when the power aspect is accepted can the church stop engaging in denial and collusion and become a place of authentic power and healing” (157). Focusing specifically on sexual coercion perpetrated by heterosexual male pastors and therapists on female congregants and clients, Trull neither blames the women nor excuses the men, whether classified as predators (motivated by a desire to conquer), wanderers (motivated by feelings of personal inadequacy), or lovers (motivated by mutual infatuation).*2 For prevention, he recommends the fostering of true personal awareness of one’s own vulnerabilities and warning signs, and the deepening of support systems and professional safeguards at both the congregational and denominational levels. Finally, in Chapter 8 Trull makes a cumulative case for developing a personal ministerial code of ethics, both based on and transcending other such professional codes.
Trull and Creech bring to their project decades of experience in and sincere concern for pastoral ministry. Additionally, they demonstrate an admirable passion for the priesthood of all believers, and a winsome commitment to healthy interdependence between clergy and laity.*3 Furthermore, Creech’s theological argument for Christian ministers to seek peace and justice in society is helpful, while Trull’s clear-eyed analysis of the power dynamics involved in clergy sexual abuse (including an internal critique of his own denomination) is desperately needed.
Yet other features limit the overall effectiveness of the book. Although the authors’ recognition of the need for a variety of approaches to ministerial ethics is well taken, in practice this trait can devolve into a kind of methodological free-for-all, a patchwork assortment of lists and quotes from others. At times, Trull offers simplistic generalities about American society*4 that demonstrate insufficient attention to the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Christian ministers in different regions.*5 Creech, on the other hand, tends to saturate his prose with questions that complexify without clarifying, and then move on without further equipping.*6
Of deepest concern, however, is a marked overemphasis on the cognitive and volitional aspects of ethical formation, at the expense of its spiritual and affective dimensions. Although the authors occasionally mention the Holy Spirit, they offer little by way of guidance on how ministers might keep in step with the Spirit. Instead, their primary focus tends to be on learning better information, establishing better structures, and following better guidelines (necessary as these are).*7 The authors rightly acknowledge the danger of legalism inherent to ministerial ethics, but given the book’s pneumatological deficiencies, the deeper problem may be a functional semi-Pelagianism. Confronting a warped human understanding and execution of power requires a deeper yielding to divine power, and a fresh infusion of divine grace. In the end, their “dream”, that “readers possess an ethical code to guide them in ministry” (207), is too small, because knowing more and trying harder is ultimately insufficient as a program of moral – as well as spiritual – formation.
Footnotes:
*1 A professional is “a broadly educated person with highly developed skills and knowledge who works autonomously under the discipline of an ethic developed and enforced by peers, who renders a social service that is essential and unique, and who makes complex judgments involving potentially dangerous consequences. A professional is more concerned with communal interest than with self, and with services rendered than with financial rewards” (18).
*2 Trull acknowledges, “Not all agree with these distinctions”, but deems them “insightful” (159).
*3 E.g., “Pastors practicing faithful ministry help these believer-priests understand both theologically and practically that they are ministers – that their baptism was their ordination to serve” (97).
*4 E.g., “The United States, like most other nations in the Western world, is predominantly secular. Life is no longer informed by a vision of God or the church” (15). This is a major assertion that is unsupported by warrants or evidence. Trull gives similarly reductive accounts of pluralism and relativism.
*5 It also does not help that many of the book’s practical examples are restricted to churches in Texas, with narrower relevance and less tenability of application beyond that particular context.
*6 E.g., “regarding participation in weddings in the twenty-first century,” Creech poses seventeen questions before concluding, “Answers to these questions will necessarily vary from one pastor to another and from one church to another, but they need to be addressed from the perspective of both the pastor’s and the congregation’s beliefs and values” (87).
*7 E.g., regarding clergy sexual abuse and ecclesial responses to it, Trull writes, “Two major problems emerge: (1) a lack of understanding of the nature of the problem and (2) a failure to have well-defined policies and procedures in place” (173).
The rapidly changing context of our morally uncertain age has not left Christian ministers unscathed, writes Joe E. Trull, a retired Baptist ethicist. Trull, who authored the first two and final two chapters of Ethics for Christian Ministry: Moral Formation for 21st-Century Leaders, argues, “The present crisis in ministerial ethics is both a reflection of our times and an influence on our society. Ethical failure in the pulpit affects the pew. At the same time, clergy morals seem to mirror the general decline in morality among the laity” (2). In Chapter 1, he navigates the difficulties entailed in defining and describing the nature of pastoral ministry – is it a vocation, a profession, a career, or all of the above? Trull considers John Piper’s emphatic denial that pastors are professionals, explores the history of professions and the meaning of “professional”,*1 and concludes that although Christian ministry is both more and less than a profession, the term still fits in significant ways, such that “there is more to be gained than lost by a minister assuming the designation of a professional” (21). This leads to the core aim of the project: “The heart of this book is an attempt to explain what this commitment to an ethical ministry means in these various arenas of the minister’s life. Without being legalistic, we will attempt to apply and illustrate the ethical demands the gospel makes on the professional life of the Christian minister” (23). Trull develops this goal further in Chapter 2, highlighting the centrality of integrity as the “element that unifies character, conduct, and moral vision” – that is, the harmonization of being, doing, and living – in the Christian minister’s vocation and the making of moral choices (29).
Over the next four chapters, R. Robert Creech, a professor of pastoral leadership at Baylor University, extends this integrity framework across various dimensions of relationships involved in Christian ministry: personal life and family, congregation, ministry peers and colleagues, and wider community. He explains that a variety of approaches to ministerial ethics are needed: “Virtue and character underlie such a life as they are formed with faithful spiritual practices and in connection with faithful Christian communities. Principles and rules of life are woven into the fabric of ministry, not arbitrarily but with reflection and understanding. Moral values are clarified as one lives within a faithful community, listening to the biblical texts … while worshipping and obeying the God who is holy, just, and compassionate” (51). In Chapter 3 he underscores the need for a “moral immune system” comprising each area of a minister’s personal life, undergirded by features such as healthy relationships, secure finances, structures of accountability, and balanced time management. Creech expands his frame of reference in Chapter 4 to encompass the congregation, emphasizing the need for mutual clarity regarding expectations of the responsibilities included in the pastoral role. He notes, “Congregations thrive in the care of pastors who are able to deliver competent proclamation, pastoral care, and leadership” (77), before offering further suggestions for each arena and admonishing about the coercive (indeed, often interlocking) temptations of money, sex, and power. In Chapter 5, Creech warns against the dangers of competition with colleagues and subordinates and calls for a culture of collaboration within and across ministries, including with predecessors and successors. The wider community is the focus of Chapter 6, as Creech navigates the nuances involved in pursuing justice and fostering peace in society. He commends a hands-on approach and advises, “Pastors who seek to engage their communities authentically as part of their calling will choose to become servants of the community before they attempt to become its prophets” (135).
Trull takes back the reins in Chapter 7 with a sobering exploration of clergy sexual abuse. He identifies precisely the deeper issue at stake: “Clergy sexual exploitation is not primarily about sex. It is an abuse of power expressed in a highly destructive sexual manner…. Only when the power aspect is accepted can the church stop engaging in denial and collusion and become a place of authentic power and healing” (157). Focusing specifically on sexual coercion perpetrated by heterosexual male pastors and therapists on female congregants and clients, Trull neither blames the women nor excuses the men, whether classified as predators (motivated by a desire to conquer), wanderers (motivated by feelings of personal inadequacy), or lovers (motivated by mutual infatuation).*2 For prevention, he recommends the fostering of true personal awareness of one’s own vulnerabilities and warning signs, and the deepening of support systems and professional safeguards at both the congregational and denominational levels. Finally, in Chapter 8 Trull makes a cumulative case for developing a personal ministerial code of ethics, both based on and transcending other such professional codes.
Trull and Creech bring to their project decades of experience in and sincere concern for pastoral ministry. Additionally, they demonstrate an admirable passion for the priesthood of all believers, and a winsome commitment to healthy interdependence between clergy and laity.*3 Furthermore, Creech’s theological argument for Christian ministers to seek peace and justice in society is helpful, while Trull’s clear-eyed analysis of the power dynamics involved in clergy sexual abuse (including an internal critique of his own denomination) is desperately needed.
Yet other features limit the overall effectiveness of the book. Although the authors’ recognition of the need for a variety of approaches to ministerial ethics is well taken, in practice this trait can devolve into a kind of methodological free-for-all, a patchwork assortment of lists and quotes from others. At times, Trull offers simplistic generalities about American society*4 that demonstrate insufficient attention to the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Christian ministers in different regions.*5 Creech, on the other hand, tends to saturate his prose with questions that complexify without clarifying, and then move on without further equipping.*6
Of deepest concern, however, is a marked overemphasis on the cognitive and volitional aspects of ethical formation, at the expense of its spiritual and affective dimensions. Although the authors occasionally mention the Holy Spirit, they offer little by way of guidance on how ministers might keep in step with the Spirit. Instead, their primary focus tends to be on learning better information, establishing better structures, and following better guidelines (necessary as these are).*7 The authors rightly acknowledge the danger of legalism inherent to ministerial ethics, but given the book’s pneumatological deficiencies, the deeper problem may be a functional semi-Pelagianism. Confronting a warped human understanding and execution of power requires a deeper yielding to divine power, and a fresh infusion of divine grace. In the end, their “dream”, that “readers possess an ethical code to guide them in ministry” (207), is too small, because knowing more and trying harder is ultimately insufficient as a program of moral – as well as spiritual – formation.
Footnotes:
*1 A professional is “a broadly educated person with highly developed skills and knowledge who works autonomously under the discipline of an ethic developed and enforced by peers, who renders a social service that is essential and unique, and who makes complex judgments involving potentially dangerous consequences. A professional is more concerned with communal interest than with self, and with services rendered than with financial rewards” (18).
*2 Trull acknowledges, “Not all agree with these distinctions”, but deems them “insightful” (159).
*3 E.g., “Pastors practicing faithful ministry help these believer-priests understand both theologically and practically that they are ministers – that their baptism was their ordination to serve” (97).
*4 E.g., “The United States, like most other nations in the Western world, is predominantly secular. Life is no longer informed by a vision of God or the church” (15). This is a major assertion that is unsupported by warrants or evidence. Trull gives similarly reductive accounts of pluralism and relativism.
*5 It also does not help that many of the book’s practical examples are restricted to churches in Texas, with narrower relevance and less tenability of application beyond that particular context.
*6 E.g., “regarding participation in weddings in the twenty-first century,” Creech poses seventeen questions before concluding, “Answers to these questions will necessarily vary from one pastor to another and from one church to another, but they need to be addressed from the perspective of both the pastor’s and the congregation’s beliefs and values” (87).
*7 E.g., regarding clergy sexual abuse and ecclesial responses to it, Trull writes, “Two major problems emerge: (1) a lack of understanding of the nature of the problem and (2) a failure to have well-defined policies and procedures in place” (173).
July 11, 2025
the first and last chapters are repetitive and extremely difficult to follow because of the constant back and forth of qualifying everything. The other six chapters are phenomenal and insightful. my advice would be to read chapters 2-7.
December 6, 2017
Excellent (and encouraging) handbook covering the spectrum of ethics for those in the pastorate.
November 3, 2022
Good information and guidance for ministerial ethics.
Read
September 1, 2025For PT501: Intro to Practical Theology/Pastoral Theology
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews