At lunch:
Gary Mauldin: Pastor of secrets

By Lesli Bales-Sherrod

Gary Mauldin isn't your typical counselor or clergy member. As director of the Holston Conference Pastoral Counseling Center, his client list is in the thousands.

The Rev. Mauldin, 50, provides counseling to clergy (including retirees), clergy families, and conference staff. He also provides consultation and crisis intervention for congregations in conflict, leads continuing education workshops, and preaches at churches throughout Holston.

This multitasking, though, is not something only Mauldin deals with on a daily basis.

"What we ask of clergy today - in terms of both their congregations and our culture - is a much higher degree of effectiveness than ever before," he said over a plate of chicken tenders at Puleo's Grille in Knoxville, Tenn.

"They have to be able to preach, teach, visit, counsel, and be great administrators. There might have been a time you could just preach well and visit a lot. Now even budgets have to be raised."

That means more stresses on clergy and their families, Mauldin said. "Part of that is how the world is today, which is largely consumer-oriented," he explained.

"People come to church asking, 'What's in it for me?' and not vice versa. It's making our job as clergy more difficult, as it is difficult to be both biblically and culturally relevant."

Mauldin said he thinks, based on anecdotal experience, that these stresses can make clergy more susceptible to different mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety - particularly if a person has a predisposition.

"There is not anyone for clergy to go talk to about their problems," he said, adding that silencing those concerns can lead clergy to battle loneliness and isolation.

It's a struggle Mauldin experienced firsthand as a pastor of a new church start in Texas. "There was never any money in the church, and that was always stressful," Mauldin remembered. "But when I got home, what was I going to say to (wife) Janet that was going to be helpful, that was going to make her feel more secure with two little children at home?"

That's why Mauldin feels so strongly about his job and about the Holston Conference Pastoral Counseling Center. "It is some place that clergy can go and tell that story," he said.

In the news these days are tales of sexual misconduct by clergy. The problem has always existed, says Mauldin. "But we've learned more now about the damage that occurs when clergy violate those sexual boundaries with a parishioner, and we're more aware of the long-term impacts."

Mauldin said he thinks three things lead to sexual misconduct: "One issue would be clergy who are not taking care of themselves and their needs appropriately," he explained. "They start to look externally to meet those needs and are not paying attention to appropriate boundaries in their professional relationships."

Second, clergy need to recognize that they are susceptible to the same temptations as everyone else. Building strong supervisory relationships with other clergy can help keep those temptations in check, he said.

"There is something psychological that says, 'That won't happen to me,'" he said. "We are human, but we need to set up enough structure in our lives so that that's not going to happen."

Third, Mauldin advocated better training at the seminary level in what he called "practical Christian ethics."

"We need to do a better job of educating clergy on understanding boundaries and making good decisions about relationships," he said.

Mauldin praised how Bishop James Swanson and the conference have handled the issue, with steps such as posting sexual abuse policies - with phone numbers for reporting abuse - in churches. The support system is better now for all involved, he said.

"There has been more willingness to address issues directly so that there can be healing for victims, congregations, and clergy family members," he said. "We're doing a better job of educating clergy and congregations about sexual ethics, and raising that awareness brings things to light that might not have been talked about before."

Lesli Bales-Sherrod is the West Knox reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel. She attends churches of the French Broad Circuit, where her husband pastors.

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