Wounded Clergy

Ministers Are Not Immune To Compulsive Sexual Behavior!

Pastors and Pornography

• In a 2000 Christianity Today survey, 33% of clergy admitted to having visited a sexually explicit web site. Of those who had visited a porn site, 53% had visited such sites “a few times” in the past year, and 18% visit sexually explicit sites between a couple of times a month and more than once a week.
• 51% of pastors say cyber-porn is a possible temptation. 37% say it is a current struggle (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, 12/2001).
• A survey conducted by Leadership magazine in 2000, showed that 40% of pastors have visited a pornographic Internet site, with over 33% doing so within the last 12 months. 
• 75% of pastors do not make themselves accountable to anyone for their Internet use. Survey by Leadership magazine with 564 respondents: Pastors and Internet Pornography, Winter, 2001, page 89.
• Almost one in seven calls to Focus on the Family's Pastoral Care Hot Line in the year 2000 dealt with Internet pornography. Focus on the Family's pureintimacy.org web site, December, 2000.
• In a 1993 survey conducted of Southern Baptist pastors, 14.1% confessed to “sexual behavior inappropriate to a minister.” CT Magazine, October 6, 1997, “Sexual Abuse in Churches Not Limited to Clergy” by Mary Cagney.
• A 1991 survey sponsored by the Fuller Institute of Church Growth revealed that 37% of the pastors surveyed confessed to having been involved in “inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church.”  Printed by H. B. London, Jr., and Neil B Wiseman, Pastors at Risk, Wheaton: Victor, 1993, page 22.
• Out of 81 pastors surveyed (74 males 7 female), 98% had been exposed to porn; 43% intentionally accessed a sexually explicit website.  National Coalition survey of pastors, Seattle,  April 2000.
• In his book, Men's Secret Wars, Patrick Means reveals a confidential survey of evangelical pastors and church lay leaders. 64% of these Christian leaders confirm that they are struggling with sexual addiction or sexual compulsion including, but not limited to use of pornography, compulsive masturbation, or other secret sexual activity.
• In March of 2002 Rick Warren’s (author of the Purpose Driven life) pastors.com website conducted a survey on porn use of 1351 pastors: 54% of the pastors had viewed Internet pornography within the last year, and 30% of these had visited within the last 30 days.

You Have Been Able to Handle (Almost) Everything Life Has Thrown at You

• Seminary
• Establishing your ministry
• Becoming a leader in the community and perhaps your denomination

 How Did Your Behavior Get So Out of Control?

• Perhaps it started with curiosity or boredom.
• Maybe you decided to reward yourself for the long hours that you work or because of the success that you have achieved. 
• It could be that you just wanted a little bit of stress relief.  Who could blame you for just wanting the stress to be more manageable?

Regardless of How it Started, Life Now Seems Out-of-Control

• Have you violated professional boundaries by being sexual with parishioners or staff?
• Do you find yourself spending hours on the Internet engaged in cybersex activities?
• Has your behavior become increasingly risky so that you are now at risk of losing your ministry/career, health, relationship/marriage, and/or family?
• No doubt you have made vows to God and tried a number of spiritual disciplines to stop your behavior.  How has that worked for you? 
• If you are not pleased with your own efforts to stop your compulsive sexual behavior, we invite you to visit the rest of this website.  We have successfully treated many physicians for whom life had become unmanageable.   Compulsive sexual behavior does not have to rule your life anymore!  You can stop your destructive behavior, regain your integrity, put an end to the Jekyll/Hyde life that is destroying everything you count precious.
• One of the treatment options that we offer is a Three-Day Intensive for Clergy.  We offer these at our offices in Houston over a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Please check our main website for additional information about intensives and other treatment options.

 Regarding the crisis you are now facing, how would you rate the significance of this problem in your life?

How willing you are to do what is necessary to alleviate this problem?

If your sexual behavior is not compulsive and is not causing problems in your life, then you do not need our services. But if your life feels out-of-control or if you have tried to stop your destructive behavior but have been unsuccessful, then we invite you to take a step toward Hope & Freedom.