August 19, 2022

Minister’s Power and Intersectionality with respect to Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and harassment in the church is a hot topic.

I attended an online Uniting Church Code of Ethics Review Course recently. All Uniting Church ministers and other people in leadership positions are required to do this annually. The topic of the day was “Bullying and Harassment”. Much was made of the minister’s power in their congregation and how this must not be misused or abused. A very important topic indeed.

BUT – another thought intruded. “Hang on a minute. What about the ministers, particularly female ministers, who are subjected to bullying and harassment by congregational members?” Someone raised this issue. We were told this would be addressed at a later date.

I don’t think you can look at one issue without the other.

This is where intersectionality comes in.

Intersectionality is a new word for me. My daughter drew my attention to it. According to an almost incomprehensible definition from “Definitions from Oxford Languages”, its original meaning refers to

“the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”

For example, this means, that while women of all ethnicities share their inferior status to men, women of colour in a multicultural society are often treated with less respect that their white sisters. Thus racism and sexism intersect, giving the woman of colour less power.

I would like to borrow this concept and apply the meaning of intersectionality to include a discussion of power in churches. Intersectionality is seen when the minister’s power intersects with the congregational members’ power. Both limit one another if the parties work against each other. However, when both minister and congregation work together, then intersectionality means that their respective degrees of power are augmented with wonderful results.

Power is often thought of as one person’s domination of another. However, many writers define organisational power and thus local church power as

“the ability to get things done, to mobilise resources, to get and use whatever it is that a person needs for the goals he or she is attempting to meet.” Kanter p166

Any minister will testify that it simply isn’t possible to get everything done in a church that they would like to. Because of the minister’s position and status, they can theoretically achieve many things. However, in the area of mission, the minister cannot work alone. They need the people’s assent and their cooperation. Mission must be a team effort if it is to be effective.

I am the first to acknowledge that the Minister, courtesy of their position in the church has a fair bit of power. However it often seems to be more than it really is. One factor to be acknowledged is the magnification effect which occurs in all organisations when the leader speaks. This means that when the minister says something at 10 decibels it will probably be heard at 100 decibels. This accounts for some congregants seeming over-reaction to the minister’s words and actions and the minister’s bewilderment at the strength of those reactions to their statements.

When things don’t go well and minister and people fail to resolve conflicts in a constructive way then tempers flare and intimidation on both sides can occur. Some ministers react badly with intimidating behaviour. Hence the important need for bullying and harassment seminars for clergy. Some congregational members react badly toward the minister with bullying behaviour, gossip, slander, lies and attempts to get the offending parson sacked. This is not acceptable behaviour either.

There are other important factors that affect the intersectionality of the power relationship between minister and congregation. They include, age, LGBTQIA+ status, ethnicity, and gender.

In the majority culture age is not respected. Older people’s knowledge is usually considered to be passe. The opinions and ideas of people from other cultures and LGBTQIA+ communities can be regarded as less important than mainstream opinions. There are also problems with sexism and misogyny within the church as much as anywhere else in society. These factors intersect with, and therefore affect a person’s influence within their particular community.

Passive aggressive behaviour toward women ministers is unfortunately common in the church. This includes calling meetings when the female minister is on holidays or otherwise not available. It also includes simply ignoring her point of view, or failing to action decisions initiated by her. These forms of discrimination, ranging from mild sexism to misogyny, are often present in the church and intersect with the female minister’s power, thus significantly reducing her influence.

Of course, with respect to pastoral care, the carer i.e the minister, has more power than the person in need. This issue is to be discussed in a future blog.

In summary, the minister’s power is the ability to get things done in their local church. They have an official position and mandate “to get things done” granted by the church which gives them some official power. However, this intersects with the power of various members and groups within the congregation and is therefore significantly reduced. The gender, age, ethnicity and sexual orientation of the minister are factors which may intersect with their official position thus affecting the power and influence of their position. Thus, intersectionality needs to be considered in all discussions regarding the minister’s power and its use or misuse.