Is Nothing Sacred?: When Sex Invades the Pastoral Relationship

by Marie M. Fortune

This timely case study is designed as a blueprint for churches in preventing--and providing effective solutions for--sexual misconduct against parishioners by clergy.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, True Crime, Christianity, Abuse

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1989

Reviews

[max theodore]

did not have time to read this in its entirety for class because i'm in the hell part of the semester, but i want to log it for my own memory's sake b/c this is the first full-length text said class has explored that centers the clergy abuse of adults rather than children--a lot of the same techniques of abuse and manipulation are of course in play, but abuse of adults is often brushed off/diminished as just "affairs" rather than abusive relationships & so this felt very important and also close to home. also written in the 80s which is both heartening and disheartening. heartening because i'm glad people were doing this hard work back then, since someone had to, but disheartening because holy fuck how is it still happening in 2025

[Clayton Faulkner]

A really helpful book about how the church misses the mark when it comes to abuse.

[Jules]

Marie Fortune names the misconduct of sexual predators with clarity and wisdom.

[David Nobles]

film research

[John Kennedy]

A riveting and heartbreaking book, a true-to-life case study of a dynamic pastor who turned out to be a sexual predator to those in his flock. In four years, he sexually abused at least six women in his church, including raping one in his office. The book provides lessons for churches to learn in how to avoid situations such as this. For years, local and district church officials ignored accusations brought by the women. Ultimately the pastor left, unpunished, and the women were made to feel like the wrongdoers.

[Mark]

This was written at a time when the sex scandals in various churches were just coming to light. Marie Fortune raises disturbing and deeply faithful questions about what should be done when a trusted adult violates sexual boundaries, and the sin of the church in hiding or "transferring" the problem. This has become a primary reference source for many church bodies in dealing with this issue.

[Stephanie]

This is the first text on sexual abuse in ministry that was widely read by ministers as far as I know.