Reviewed Book: Arnold, William V. Pastoral Responses to Sexual Issues. Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993

Stortz, Martha Ellen

English

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Pastoral Responses to Sexual Issues

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 20Issue 2 In Praise of Valiant Women Article 2411-1-1994Pastoral Responses to Sexual IssuesMartha Ellen StortzFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationStortz, Martha Ellen (1994) "Pastoral Responses to Sexual Issues," Consensus: Vol. 20 : Iss. 2 , Article 24.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol20/iss2/24176 ConsensusPastoral Responses to Sexual Issuesilliaiii V. ArnoldLouisville, KY: Wc'stniinster/Jolin Knox Press, 1993xiv + 144 })p. $12.99 LLS.M411ia.ni V. Arnold is convinced that many of the issues that floatthrough a pastor’s study are sexual issues. Parishioners address these issuesdirectly, indirectly, or not at all, depending on what they sense to be theirpastor's level of comfort with them. Thus, Arnold’s first move in a bookdealing with pastoral responses to sexual issues is to tackle the pastor’slevel of comfort with body, boundaries, and sexuality. He targets his bookto “those who believe in or want to explore the importance of sexual issuesin ministry and who have not yet clone a great deal of work in it” (p. xii).That “work” begins with the pastor/reader. The first third of his bookinvites the reader to explore conditioned or enculturated responses to gen-der, fainih^ of origin, sexuality, and professional and personal boundaries.The pastor must be in touch with his/her own sexual issues, before offeringcounsel to another.This initial section is impressive, because Arnold is here less interestedin egregious violations of the pastor-parishioner relationship, than in howthese are the accumulated effect of more subtle statements of distance andlimitation. He demands that we attend to what many pastors take forgranted; space, where one meets and how the space is arranged; time, howmuch and how contained; touch, how it is offered and received; and feelings,attraction and inclinations. Each holds the potential for manipulation orabuse Idj" either party, but each, used justly, is an important ingredientin an appropriate pastoral encounter. Taken together, they are importantemphases in a growing held of clergy sexual abuse literature that focuses onworst-case scenarios and forgets to document how these are the inevitableoutcome of a series of seemingl}^ ordinal'}^ moves.Onl}^ when Arnold has invited the pastor to a greater awareness ofhis/her own sense of body, boundaries, and sexuality does he move to adiscussion of some of the sexual issues pastors confront: sexual dysfunctionin marriage, extramarital affairs, sexual discrimination and abuse, ado-lescent sexuality, and homosexuality. Case studies illumine each of thesesituations, inviting the reader to move from considering them coldly as “is-sues’’ to recalling them as the embodied stories of parishioners. To eachof these issues Arnold brings theological, psychological, and physiologicalperspectives.Because sexuality itself is multidimensional, sexual issues in ministrydemand a multidimensional address. Most impressive is Arnold’s attentionto the theological dimensions of these questions, as he explores understand-ings of sin and grace refracted through the lives of the people in his casestudies. It is a strong argument for the limited place and certain powerof pastoral counselors, alongside clinical psychologists—to whom pastorsought always refer parishioners in need of more specialized assistance.Book Reviews 177Arnold integrates the first section on pastoral awareness into his dis-cussion of specific issues by including a section on the appropriate pastoralresponse to the situations descri 1:)ed. Here he refers to the earlier discussionof l^oundaries and attitudes, using them as a resource for counseling. In themine-filled terrain of human sexuality, where church social statements fearto tread, this l^ook offers sage advice to practitioners in ministry—and itsfirst section ought to be a required exercise for pastors and their mentors.Martha Ellen StortzPacific Lutheran Theological SeminaryBerkeley, CaliforniaEyes Wide Open, Spiritual Resources for Healing fromChildhood Sexual AbuseLouise CummingsWinfield, BC: Wood Lake Books, 1994124 pp. $19.95I must admit that I approached this book with a great deal of caution!So many 'Spiritual” resources that relate to issues around sexual abuse areheavy on forgiveness and light on reality. I wondered if this book could beany different. The need for good material for sexual abuse survivors madereading this book worth a try!Beginning with the introduction one can see that this is going to bean honest look at a survivor’s journey. At the outset, the author pointsout to the reader that the chapters are not numbered because there is no“correct” order to the way one would experience them. This underscoresthe importance of understanding the path a survivor needs to travel in aworld that struggles to make everything appear to be linear.The outline of the book is brilliant in its simplicity. Each chapter beginswith a candid description of the author’s abuse experience. Cummings doesnot (hvell as much on the historical description of her abuse as on the impactthat it had and continues to have on her.This description is immediately followed b}^ the question—“Where isGod?” In this part, the author draws on her rich knowledge of Old andN('w Testarnent passages that have siipported her in her healing. She offersth(' rc'a.der those passages that gave her support as she faced each newh'C'ling and experience.Finally, each chapter ends with the question— “Where is 1113' communityof faith?” This is a rich lesson to any of us about the value of cultivating ad('('p rc'lationship with our faith communit}^ It speaks of the ol^vious sup-port th(' author finds in her community. Also, it points out the importanceto the communit}' that lives through a difficult experience in concert with

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