VIDEO: Local Pastors Talk Crisis Management When it Comes to Scandals

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Scandals are not something people want to experience, especially in the church.

The arrest of pastor Michael Shane Cruse begs the question: How do churches handle turmoil.

Church leaders WCBI spoke with tells us one church isn’t affected when a scandal happens.

It makes congregations throughout the area lose trust of a certain degree with their own pastor.

“It affects every other minister because that sheds a bad light on ministry credibility on all ministers,” said local pastor, Danny Avery.

However, there are ways to approach the situation.

Church leaders who have seen scandals before offer advice on how to approach these cases.

“As in any type of situation, the first thing to do is to be as transparent as possible, and we have to remember that local churches are made up of human beings. Human beings aren’t perfect. We’re all going to make mistakes.”

Former WCBI reporter and pastor, R.H. Brown, says when the accused in a scandal is a leader in the church, that can be easily forgotten.

“The minister of that local assembly is called to a higher standard. They may fall into unrighteousness and sexual impurities, but that particular ministry is called to a higher standard,” said Brown.

“It’s just much more glaringly obvious than it might be me or you or someone else on the street,” said Avery.

These Clergymen say a connection is lost with the congregations and isn’t easily won back during or after questionable actions.

“There is a measure of trust that’s violated when a minister commits an immoral act such as this. That trust is not there anymore,” said Brown.

Avery says while scandals are unfortunate, instead of pointing fingers and blaming congregations should do what the Bible calls them to do.

“My first thing would be to say we need to pray for this person. We need to pray for their heart, pray for their soul, pray for their relationship with God and that they will realize that they have a problem and get help,” said Avery.

“That person that did this impure thing, this deed, needs to be restored like David, Peter, and even Paul,” said Brown.

Both pastors also say scandals need to be confronted almost immediately by the church, even before it goes to court, so congregations can move on.