William Thornthon of SBC Voices has provided a list of things that he views as “inappropriate interaction” with women. He writes:
When a pastor is said to be “inappropriately involved with a woman or women in his church other than his wife”, it used to be that the phrase was our ecclesiastical euphemism for breaking the seventh commandment. The pastor got physically involved in an adulterous affair. Once that is known to be true, the pastor is effectively finished at his church while church leadership attempts to arrange his departure in a way that shows grace towards him and his family but upholds ministry standards.
Opinions vary about whether or not the adulterer pastor is finished for good. LifeWay Research did a poll of pastors on this and found that about one-third though that for the pastor to withdraw for three months to one year would be sufficient, about one-fourth though adultery to be a permanent disqualifier, and one in six though an absence from public ministry of two to ten years would be sufficient.
