The Ministry of Adjudication
Bishop Kurt F. Kusserow
Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod Bishop
kurt.kusserow@swpasynod.org | 412-367-8222
I still remember how exhausting and disorienting the ELCA’s new bishops formation was. Mountains of information overwhelmed our class of newbies like an all-you-can-eat buffet gone wrong! The weight of the office crashed down on us like that cartoon meme of an anvil suddenly falling out of the sky. And the worst part was Legal 101; learning how to adjudicate allegations of misconduct.
I have come to learn that adjudication is a vital part of a synod’s ministry within the Church and that it takes many forms. The ministry of adjudication routinely provides real blessing for many people. It is also a deep heartache for some. In an introduction that I trust will be much less distressing than Legal 101, let me describe how adjudication is a ministry of support.
The word “judicatory,” in its churchy context, means “governing body.” Strictly speaking, the adjudication that a synod (or “middle judicatory”) provides is a ministry of governance. When we think of what we expect from government, we can quickly identify much of what synod adjudication covers, such as:
keeping records on file,
having the proper forms to use for this or that matter,
sorting out who has the authority in given situations, and
resolving disputes.
Yes, the synod can tell you how many pastors have served your congregation over the years, and what their names are, and the dates of their service. Record-keeping is a part of the synod’s ministry of adjudication. And, yes, you can get a fill-in-the-blanks contract for interim pastoral ministry from the synod office. Governance is that background ministry of administrative support that we all generally take for granted. You know it is being done well when nobody notices! This kind of adjudication blesses many people, even if for the most part they are unaware of the work that is done on their behalf.
Resolving disputes, however, is a more volatile kind of adjudication that can leave people feeling hurt and wronged, especially when the matter in dispute is an allegation of misconduct. In this kind of situation, adjudication is the difficult work of applying our governing documents to specific life situations in which people have caused or experienced harm. While it seems obvious to say that the harm caused by misconduct has largely already been done before the work of adjudication begins, it is also true that the experience of being hurt can occur again or can happen in new and unexpected ways through the very effort to resolve the matter. And yet this form of adjudication also provides support, for in bearing this pain, trust may be sustained.
Bringing an allegation of misconduct forward can be a very difficult thing to do. Feelings of shame and humiliation can prevent people from bringing an allegation of misconduct forward for years, even decades. So when an allegation is first brought forward, the face of adjudication is pastoral care: listening, providing respect, pledging confidentiality. Providing pastoral care is a constitutional mandate for synods and for synod bishops. I have often heard it described as a profound blessing by the one who has been courageous enough finally to speak out.
Consultation follows the initial work of pastoral care. Synod bishops are required by the constitution to seek to resolve allegations of misconduct through consultation before disciplinary charges are made. This work of investigation documents the allegations, determines how they relate to specific behaviors for which a rostered minister is subject to discipline, and seeks to gain accounts from others who may be able to corroborate the allegations or who may themselves have experienced the alleged misconduct. This searching-out process affects each person invited into it.
Information-seeking interviews can cause distress among those who have some knowledge of the alleged behavior and have wrestled, often for years, whether or not to say anything about what they have seen or heard. Consultation panel members carry the pain of others as they do their work. Those who first voiced the allegation can feel they are now under investigation when their story is cross-examined. But for the work of adjudication to serve the church, this work must be done, and it must be done thoroughly. Quite often, small observations raised in the consultation process serve as doorways to previously unknown but relevant information that can help authenticate or discredit allegations under investigation.
When the investigation is complete, the allegations are brought to the one against whom they have been made. This moment is almost always one of deep pain. Like the ripples set in motion when a stone is tossed into a pond, dismay, disbelief, disappointment, and distrust spread outward from this meeting and affect nearly every person in the relational system.
In this difficult place, the ministry of adjudication takes the form of clarifying agency. I have come to use the word “agency” as shorthand for the complex web of actions each person in the process can take and what consequences flow from those actions. An agent is one who acts; agency is the ability or authority to act. And at this point in the process, the one against whom the allegations have been brought has primary agency – to confirm the allegations or to deny them, to resign the call or to fight the accusations as false.
Each response moves the ministry of adjudication forward in a different way. An immediate resignation ends the adjudication process but requires intense pastoral care for the ministry site shocked by the news. Fighting false accusations brings the truth to light but leaves scars for those exonerated. The goal of every way forward is to serve the church by revealing the truth, even if it is painful to do so.
Finally, the matter is disclosed. Disclosure shares what can be documented with those who are most closely affected. Here again, pain and blessing arrive together, as people hear what can be shared and find their own lives affected by it. In every phase, the ministry of adjudication strives to support the church, calling us to bear the pain of harm together for the sake of the ministry we share.