Page 99 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 7

Christian Psychology alive
a Triune God from whom we learn communi-
on, relation, grace and love. (D.V.F.)
Case Study: Roy’s Story
Returning to the scene of last year’s graduation,
the most meaningful interaction I had was with
a graduate named “Roy” [not his real name]. He
spotted me wandering around in the reception
area where refreshments were being served, and
insisted that I sit at his table with his parents
and senior pastor. Somewhat to my surprise,
Roy introduced me to them both and then pro-
ceeded to talk about the personal significance
of the course he had completed with me his last
semester. Here is his story, much of which was
not known to me until that day.
Roy had waited until his last year in seminary to
take his most of his practical theology courses.
He found himself very much enjoying his class
in pastoral counselling, particularly the use
of case studies and pastoral formation assign-
ments which caused him to reflect more deeply
on how his family of origin and Asian cultural
heritage had influenced his assumptions about
life and ministry. In his last semester he decided
to take my course on theological issues in coun-
seling, which focused upon forgiveness.
As the class unfolded, Roy found himself per-
sonally affected by the readings, journal assign-
ments, speakers, papers and discussions. He
realized that his church, family and even his
marriage was wrapped up in issues profoundly
related to unfinished forgiveness business.
Roy’s wife “Tina” [not her real name] had been
a staff member in a Christian organization whe-
re she had been subject to sexual harassment by
the agency’s executive director. This individual
had propositioned her and attempted to mani-
pulate her into a sexual relationship, which she
rebuffed. When she reported this behavior to
the organization’s board, the executive director
denied her allegations and attacked her charac-
ter and credibility. She was quickly fired from
this ministry and subsequently lost many clo-
se friends who were taken in by false rumours
circulated to discredit her in the local Christian
community. Tina eventually had to leave the
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state where she was living to restart her life,
where she met Ray and later married. In addi-
tion to his wife’s ongoing mistrust of leadership
in the Church due to this traumatic experience,
Ray himself was understandably angry at both
the organization and the executive director in-
volved.
He journaled at one point during the course re-
garding a reading assignment:
“I put this chapter off for a while, partly be-
cause I knew it would address some of my
own issues and some real events that Tina
and I are working through right now. Last
week she heard from a family friend that the
pastor who had made unwanted sexual ad-
vances towards her was fired from the church
for other offenses against other women. His
wife is filing for divorce. There are allegations
of sexual misconduct, where he abused his
power and trust. His wife is pressing charges
of assault against him for violence. Tina feels
vindicated, in a way, because she was demo-
nized by the church when she left two years
ago.
When I heard the news of what this man
was up to, I was livid and indignant. I really
thought that this man should be taken out,
that someone just needs to smack him around
a little. He works mostly with teens and col-
lege students who are international students,
away from family and friends. So, he’s picking
up on the defenseless. Some of the things Tina
tells us about make me sick. And I want to re-
spond violently. I want to smack him around
a little. Or a lot. It makes me even more mad
to know that he’s now in [name of a city in
the Midwest] doing fundraising and sprea-
ding lies about his wife. Sometimes I feel as if
the sins of this man justify my anger, aggres-
sion, and violent intent towards him. And so
I didn’t want to read this chapter.
This chapter forces me to conclude that the-
re are no easy divisions between good guys
and bad guys. Munny [a character in Clint
Eastwood’s film “Unforgiven”] is right, “We
all have it coming.” Maybe my violent reac-
tion is an attempt to deny that I have it co-
ming too, that I am a rotten sinner as well.
But my self-righteousness doesn’t want me to
go there. This chapter makes me realize that