Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9509010030
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Stanley's supporters constituted just over half of those who wrote, e-mailed and called in responses to the Aug. 20 column.
Stanley is pastor of the 14,000-member First Baptist Church of Atlanta, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, a widely read author and a nationally broadcast TV preacher with, apparently, a significant following in Southwest Virginia.
Recently his wife, Anna, refiled legal papers seeking a divorce after 40 years of marriage.
At a church meeting on the subject a few weeks ago, Stanley gave up his administrative authority in the church and announced he would also resign the pulpit if his wife is granted a divorce. Stanley has taught that a divorced man cannot fill the biblically mandated requirements for a pastor, including an instruction in 1st Timothy that a church leader be "the husband of one wife."
Stanley contends he wants a reconciliation. His wife says none is possible.
Two weeks ago, I asked whether you would vote for Stanley to leave or stay if the divorce becomes final. Judging by the number and tone of the letters, the subject of clergy divorce is one many people feel passionately about.
About 120 responses came in, with a slight majority fervently expressing the opinion that Stanley should keep his pulpit. The rest of the respondents were about evenly split between those who adamantly believe he should resign and those who feel some conflicts but lean toward accepting his resignation.
Unfortunately, space considerations limit the number of letters we can publish, but thanks to all of you who wrote.
Following is a sampling of the responses:
"I would vote and tell him to keep the work of God up. Stay in there. He doesn't want the divorce. So it must be his wife that is in fault. She must not be a Christian or she would try and hold their marriage."
Mary (no last name)
Roanoke
"I think Dr. Stanley should step down from the pastorate. ... it will be a great loss to the Christian community. [But] He can still minister through his writing. We need to still pray that his wife's heart will be changed."
Sandy Perkinson
Christiansburg
"Mrs. Stanley has probably let Satan's demonic forces of the New Age philosophy overtake her, and she has become the Eve of the situation."
Adeline F. Hanks
Max Meadows
"The Scriptures do not teach that if a preacher's wife divorces him he can no longer preach. Such an idea is contrary not only to sound doctrine, but also contradicts sound thinking. This idea negates the only reason a man should preach, i.e., God calls him, and shifts the responsibility to his wife. The theology of shifting such decision-making to the wife has been tried before. Her name was Eve."
John B. Harber
Radford
He should resign "if that's what everyone wants, including his son, but he'll surely be missed by me, for I never miss a Saturday night at 9 [watching Stanley on television]. He is a wonderful speaker, teacher and spiritual counselor."
Annita Scott Watson
Roanoke
"If Rev. Stanley's wife chooses to divorce him, that is her problem, not his as it relates to his pastoring a church. ... His son, Andy, who resigned his pastorate of Dunwoody, a satellite church, because his father would not resign at First Baptist, is way out of line. He needs to grow up."
T.E. Tatum
Spenser
"I have been a Southern Baptist for more than 60 years. I don't think anyone who has a divorce should be in the pulpit. It makes a person lose confidence in the one who has been divorced."
Esterline Howard
Clifton Forge
"Charles Stanley is to be commended for being obedient to God's Word in what is undoubtedly for him an agonizing decision to resign his pulpit because of divorce. My heart aches for him and his church. ... Surely God will continue to bless and use in many other areas of service and ministry such an obedient servant."
Beverly Jessup
Roanoke
"The congregation now has a choice of whether to follow their own desires or to follow what God's Word says. The bottom line is that the Bible is the ultimate authority and should be obeyed fully. ... So I believe that the members of the church should accept the resignation of Charles Stanley."
Laura Jeane Briggs,
age 16
Troutville
"I hope and pray he don't resign, as I think he is a God-sent preacher and I enjoy him so much. I think there are a lot of old people like me, if you can't go to church we can turn on the TV and hear a good preacher we can understand."
Reva Abshire
Roanoke
"There is no choice to be made and no one's reasoning that can change what the Bible says. He must step down - period."
Clint Harper
Galax
"I would vote for Dr. Charles Stanley to remain in the pulpit of First Baptist Church of Atlanta unless evidence shows he has violated the biblical laws of marriage. The world should not be deprived of so great a preacher/teacher."
Leonard Thompson
Roanoke
"Charles Stanley may be a talented preacher. He is also a role model for the church. We must not allow our role models to deviate from the rules. Mr. Stanley must do the right thing by stepping down and not communicating the message that divorce is OK."
Christie Hudnall
Christiansburg
"The Lord will tell him what he should do. He listens to the Lord - not his young son. ... I believe Dr. Stanley will remain unmarried - that is the solution."
Ethel R. Crosby
Roanoke
"Shortly after my own divorce, I heard this same Charles Stanley on the radio teaching that a when a minister loses his family, he loses his ministry. ... He should step down and make a living writing sermons for others to read."
Anonymous retired pastor
Roanoke
``... I would probably be inclined not to require his dismissal but to accept his voluntary resignation. Dr. Stanley is not the first minister, evangelical or otherwise, to be an imperfect or even bad husband. John Wesley's wife is reported to have complained often and loudly about her famous husband's prolonged absences and lack of attentiveness to her and their children. Had 18th-century English society been more permissive, perhaps the great Wesley would have found himself in court and paying alimony."
The Rev. Charles T. Evans
Roanoke
"Yes, Charles Stanley should be forced out of his pulpit. It is what he has preached, so let him live by it. ... P.S. His congregation should forgive him!"
Lee Fitzgerald
Fincastle
"Phooey! Rev. Stanley should not feel obliged to tender his resignation nor should his congregation ask for it. I am an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church. ... During my years of ministry, I've seen far too many good pastors unfairly suffer from the stigma of divorce. I have felt some backlash in having married a divorced man. Somewhere along the line I think we have forgotten that pastors are called by God into ministry, BUT that we are human - subject to all the frailties of humankind. We stand in need of God's grace in our brokenness and deserve the same loving kindness we give to our parishioners when they face divorce. ...
Joanna C. Stallings
Blacksburg
"If anything, this turmoil in Charles Stanley's life will help give him greater insight to the problems his parishioners face. A couple facing divorce will realize that Stanley has been there and has walked the same road."
Nora Vinion
Radford
"Kindness, charity and support should be shown to the minister, but the church should recognize the extreme power of the office and the extreme stress of divorce. The two should not mix. Pastors under this degree of stress are at best ineffective and in my experience quite harmful. ... Yes. First Baptist Church in Atlanta should accept the pastor's resignation. Whether or not he is at fault in the divorce, he is under too much stress to function effectively. He'll find other work. If he doesn't want to resign, give him a leave of absence of at least one year."
Katherine J. Reier
Roanoke
"My suggestion would be that he be treated as he has treated divorced people who have been members of his church during his time there, no better, no worse."
Karen Brown
Bedford
by CNB