Pastor confidentiality

Do you really want a pastor who will keep his mouth shut?

I don't think most people do

Awful story from Illinois - Bolingbrook

Westbrook Christian – Neil Schori one of their pastors

Says Stacy Peterson came to him to share that her husband, Sgt. Drew, had killed his third wife, Kathleen Savio

Was not too long after that that Stacy disappeared – prime suspect is Drew

So this pastor is on Greta the other night – he is one of counseling pastors at church

And he is on Greta – sharing that he had been meeting with the couple – off and on – often separately

And in August, Stacy came to him and said “He did it”

“Did what?'

“Killed Kathleen” said she had never told another person

Said she shared details – Greta pushed for those details

pastor said “not comfortable getting into it”

When we came across this, whole team just shook our head

Are you kidding me?

Pastor gets on national TV and shares what a counselee has shared with him in confidence?

Violates the whole notion of what a pastor does – whole role

If 5 or 10 yahoos do this, then pastoral role emptied of its value

Pastor should never under any circumstances divulge what is shared in that setting

Not to save his own life, not to save another's life, not to protect his good name, nor to aid the course of justice

Is attorney client only privileged relationship in this culture? Should not be

That is the role of the pastor- complete trust and confidence

If pastor has young man come to him in confidence, in a pastoral or confessional setting, and say gonna go postal and do a columbine, pastor cannot share that

Not even to save lives

Pastor has to live with that – not an easy role

Folks will disagree – they want other people's confidences shared but not their own

But people need that

happened on this show – man called and changed his name

CLIP

real life stuff – we all have a need for this

Listen to the relief in his voice

That is the significance of the pastor's role

Ever been in situation where needed that confidential person?

Ever been betrayed – what feel like?

Need to confess something – now is your time

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/11/peterson.wife.ap/index.html

Former Westbrook Christian Church pastor Neil Schori told Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren in an interview broadcast Monday that Stacy Peterson told him in August that her husband, Drew Peterson, admitted killing his previous wife, Kathleen Savio.

Schori said he asked Stacy Peterson, Drew Peterson's fourth wife, to clarify what she had said and she responded, "'He killed Kathleen."' Schori said the conversation occurred when he and Stacy Peterson met at a coffee shop.

Savio's body was found in her bathtub in 2004 and her death initially was ruled an accidental drowning. After Stacy Peterson disappeared in October, prosecutors opened another investigation into the Savio case, and said it appears her death was a homicide staged to look like an accident. Drew Peterson has not been named a suspect in her death.

Stacy Peterson offered enough detail to be credible, said Schori, who declined to discuss the details in the interview.

"But it was very clear that this was not just speculation," he said. "She was not jumping to conclusions."

Joel Brodsky, Peterson's attorney, did not immediately return an after-hours phone message seeking comment from The Associated Press. But he said on the Fox program that "I'd love to get to cross-examine (Schori) because there are a lot of problems with his story."

Schori said he thought Stacy Peterson never shared the information about Savio with police. Asked why Stacy Peterson chose to stay with her husband after learning about his former wife's death, Schori said, "My guess would be out of fear."

Although he has not been arrested or charged, Drew Peterson, 53, has been named a suspect in Stacy Peterson's disappearance by Illinois State Police, who have labeled the case a possible homicide.

Stacy Peterson was last seen October 28 and was reported missing by her family the next day. Drew Peterson, a member of the Bolingbrook Police Department until he quit after his wife went missing, has denied any involvement in her disappearance. He has said he believes his wife left him for another man and is alive.

Last month, the Westbrook Christian Church's pastor of spiritual formation told The Associated Press that Stacy Peterson requested an August meeting with a member of their pastoral staff when the church made a routine call to see why she and Drew Peterson had not attended services in recent months.

The church official made a "judgment call" not to alert authorities and did not consult with other church staff, Rob Daniels said.

At the time he spoke to the AP, Daniels would not identify the clergy member who met with Stacy Peterson or say where the meeting took place.