Unitarian Universalism Has A History Of Clergy Sexual Abuse And Misconduct. . .
But don't take my word for it U*Us. . .
Take the word of U*U minister Reverend Lynn Strauss of the Unitarian Universalist Church Of Rockville Maryland, as written in her comparatively recent Sunday sermon titled 'Clergy Sexual Abuse and Misconduct 2010'. Here are a few highlights from that sermon that U*Us would be well advised to pay heed to -
"We too have a history of clergy sexual abuse and misconduct. Our Association, for too long, also refused to see and respond to the truth of abuse of power by some of our ministers."
"If a minister was accused of sexual misconduct, he (it was almost always a he) he was merely transferred to another congregation…to another district. And no healing or opportunity for truth telling was offered to the women or to the congregations that were harmed."
"Clergy act within systems. If clergy are allowed to act in unethical and immoral ways, the systems: the Vatican, the UUA, the parishes, the congregations… also are culpable."
"I want to be clear that if ever you suspect or experience sexual misconduct by a Unitarian Universalist minister…you are expected to report it. Call the District Executive, Call Boston. Report it."
Well Rev. Lynn Strauss wasn't doing too badly until she made the following rather *questionable* assertion -
"There is no more tolerance for misconduct. There are good policies and procedures and clear guidelines posted on the UUA website-look for the link to “Restorative Justice for All”.
In short Rev. Lynn Strauss is quite mistaken if she *really* believes that there is no more tolerance for clergy misconduct within the UUA and-or individual U*U churches. The "good policies" that she speaks about actually have some serious flaws that need to be corrected but, even those policies, procedures, and sometimes rather "less than clear" guidelines, that actually are "good" are often flagrantly disregarded and violated by those U*U administrators who are responsible for dealing with clergy misconduct complaints.
"Any allegation is investigated with an approach of advocacy for the victim /survivor."
Not in my experience. . . nor in that of other victims of various forms of clergy misconduct.
"The focus is on restorative justice in which everyone is heard."
Again, not in my experience, nor in that of other victims of various forms of clergy misconduct. Au contraire. . . the UUA and Unitarian Church of Montreal have gone to highly questionable lengths to silence me and most certainly have not properly listened to what I have to say about the clergy misconduct of Rev. Ray Drennan, Rev. Victoria Weinstein aka Peacebang, and other "less than perfect" U*U clergy.
"If deemed justified, censure occurs, and ministers can be removed from Fellowship in the UUA. When this happens all ministers and congregations are notified by letter."
Is this really true? Are *all* 1000 or so Unitarian*Universalist congregations actually notified by letter when a U*U minister is censured or removed from fellowship?
"The expectation of keeping secrets has been replaced with the expectation of truth-telling."
Forgive me for saying *bullshit* here U*Us. . . butt the "expectation of keeping secrets" has by no means been replaced by "the expectation of truth-telling". To this very day Unitarian*Universalists in general, and U*U clergy in particular. . . continue to not only keep secrets regarding clergy misconduct and other U*U injustices and abuses, but also continue attempting to silence and suppress those people who dare to try to tell the truth about U*U clergy misconduct of various kinds. I none-the-less thank Rev. Lynn Strauss for so publicly acknowledging that Unitarian*Universalists *were*, and AFA*I*AC still *are*. . . guilty of "keeping secrets" aka covering up and hiding Unitarian*Universalist clergy misconduct.
More later. . .
Take the word of U*U minister Reverend Lynn Strauss of the Unitarian Universalist Church Of Rockville Maryland, as written in her comparatively recent Sunday sermon titled 'Clergy Sexual Abuse and Misconduct 2010'. Here are a few highlights from that sermon that U*Us would be well advised to pay heed to -
"We too have a history of clergy sexual abuse and misconduct. Our Association, for too long, also refused to see and respond to the truth of abuse of power by some of our ministers."
"If a minister was accused of sexual misconduct, he (it was almost always a he) he was merely transferred to another congregation…to another district. And no healing or opportunity for truth telling was offered to the women or to the congregations that were harmed."
"Clergy act within systems. If clergy are allowed to act in unethical and immoral ways, the systems: the Vatican, the UUA, the parishes, the congregations… also are culpable."
"I want to be clear that if ever you suspect or experience sexual misconduct by a Unitarian Universalist minister…you are expected to report it. Call the District Executive, Call Boston. Report it."
Well Rev. Lynn Strauss wasn't doing too badly until she made the following rather *questionable* assertion -
"There is no more tolerance for misconduct. There are good policies and procedures and clear guidelines posted on the UUA website-look for the link to “Restorative Justice for All”.
In short Rev. Lynn Strauss is quite mistaken if she *really* believes that there is no more tolerance for clergy misconduct within the UUA and-or individual U*U churches. The "good policies" that she speaks about actually have some serious flaws that need to be corrected but, even those policies, procedures, and sometimes rather "less than clear" guidelines, that actually are "good" are often flagrantly disregarded and violated by those U*U administrators who are responsible for dealing with clergy misconduct complaints.
"Any allegation is investigated with an approach of advocacy for the victim /survivor."
Not in my experience. . . nor in that of other victims of various forms of clergy misconduct.
"The focus is on restorative justice in which everyone is heard."
Again, not in my experience, nor in that of other victims of various forms of clergy misconduct. Au contraire. . . the UUA and Unitarian Church of Montreal have gone to highly questionable lengths to silence me and most certainly have not properly listened to what I have to say about the clergy misconduct of Rev. Ray Drennan, Rev. Victoria Weinstein aka Peacebang, and other "less than perfect" U*U clergy.
"If deemed justified, censure occurs, and ministers can be removed from Fellowship in the UUA. When this happens all ministers and congregations are notified by letter."
Is this really true? Are *all* 1000 or so Unitarian*Universalist congregations actually notified by letter when a U*U minister is censured or removed from fellowship?
"The expectation of keeping secrets has been replaced with the expectation of truth-telling."
Forgive me for saying *bullshit* here U*Us. . . butt the "expectation of keeping secrets" has by no means been replaced by "the expectation of truth-telling". To this very day Unitarian*Universalists in general, and U*U clergy in particular. . . continue to not only keep secrets regarding clergy misconduct and other U*U injustices and abuses, but also continue attempting to silence and suppress those people who dare to try to tell the truth about U*U clergy misconduct of various kinds. I none-the-less thank Rev. Lynn Strauss for so publicly acknowledging that Unitarian*Universalists *were*, and AFA*I*AC still *are*. . . guilty of "keeping secrets" aka covering up and hiding Unitarian*Universalist clergy misconduct.
More later. . .
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my first counselling session - with the Rev. Phil Smith in Riverside, California. He was a charismatic man and much admired in the congregation. I wept and wept in my session - i was feeling very down and just couldn't stop crying. Finally he became cross and said to me, "Just breathe! Just breathe!" Then he stood me up, took hold of my shoulders, and stuck his tongue down my throat - as if to shut me up. I left feeling utterly and completely confused.