My Code of Ethics

 

Adopted by the General Conference in 1964  My Code of Ethics  (Not laws to govern but principles to guide)

ETHICS (MINISTERIAL)

      The following code of ethics is contained in the manual of the United Pentecostal Church, International.  I have amplified each provision with statements, for instances and illustrations that I hope will assist in their practical application to ministerial life. 

Striving to be a good minister of the Lord Jesus Christ,

      I will constantly prepare myself in body, mind, and spirit.  Your words will betray your innermost feelings.  Whatever way you spend most of your time, whatever you expend most of your energy doing, whatever you invest most of your money into will be the things that you speak most passionately about.

      I will safeguard the good name of the ministry; [I will] speak the truth in love, live honestly, and avoid embarrassing debts.  You represent God and the Church to all people.  Extravagance, elitist living, deceptive behavior and irresponsible spending will undermine your spiritual authority.  You cannot preach about sacrifice if people do not see it in your life.

      I will hold as sacred all confidences shared with me.  Never divulge secrets that people tell you.  Avoid the temptation to titillate your audience or spice up your sermon with confidential stories.  Don’t use prayer requests as an excuse to share information.  Breaking a confidence can mean legal trouble.  It will certainly destroy your pastoral relationship with the person.

      I will exercise the authority of a spiritual leader rather than that of a dictator.   Jesus told Peter to “feed my sheep.”  You cannot feed your family without diligent, productive work.  It has been said that you can pastor a church in three days out of a week.  It’s what you do the other four days that will determine the kind of pastor you will be.  The church belongs to God, not to any minister.  The very word minister means servant.  If you are not serving, you are not a minister.

      I will seek to minister rather than to be ministered unto, placing service above salary and personal recognition, and the unity and welfare of the church above my own personal welfare.  Honor all agreements with former pastors.  Take your salary last after the church’s bills have been paid.  Do not resent the interruptions, middle-of-the-night calls or long counseling sessions.  That is what you are called to do.  Do not become defensive or go ballistic when someone criticizes you.  Answer the questions calmly and continue to serve.

      I will seek to lead my church to accept its full responsibility for community and world service.  The church has a mandate from God to evangelize the world.  Give to home and foreign missions and as many service arms of the organization as you can.  The members of your congregation need your direction in these vital areas.

      I will seek to build my church without discrediting other churches, soliciting members therefrom, or casting reflection on other ministers.  Do not knowingly visit a member from another church in the hospital.  If a member of another church in fellowship visits your church, contact the pastor of the church as soon as possible and inform him.  Tell the visitor that you will do this.  Do not counsel with a member of another church unless you have the permission of his or her pastor.  Do not presume to succeed where you think a fellow pastor has failed.  You may not have the entire story.

      I will not compete with another minister for a call to a pastorate in an unethical manner.  Do not use “insider” trade tactics.  Do not speak disparagingly of another pastor.  If God does not want you to pastor the church, you would be a fool to try.  Let God work things out as He chooses.

      I will, with my resignation, sever my pastoral relations with any former parishioner and will not make pastoral contacts in the field of another pastor without his or her knowledge and consent.  Lingering relationships create problems for the new pastor.  Advising members of the assembly you just left could contradict the advice of the current pastor.  Resignations should be done properly, deliberately and honorably.  Do not just walk out and leave everything behind.

      I will not accept the pastorate of a United Pentecostal Church unless I am in accord with the Articles of Faith and Constitution of the general church body.  You should continue to pastor under the same pretext in which you accepted the pastorate.  The people have an expectation that you believe what the UPCI believes in every major way.  If you develop a difference of opinion from the Articles of Faith to which you subscribed at licensing, do not teach or counsel your opinion.

Take your new opinion to your spiritual mentor(s), your pastor, your presbyter and your district superintendent before you ever share it with another. 

      Having accepted a pastorate, I will not use my influence to alienate the church or any portion thereof from the fellowship or support of the United Pentecostal Church International. If my convictions change, I will be honorable enough to withdraw.  You received what you have courtesy of the UPCI.  You have a unique opportunity to become the spiritual leader to the people in your church.  The UPCI gives you this opportunity as a trust.  Any attempt to use this relationship to a personal advantage or to unduly influence people to believe something in contradiction to the UPCI is unethical.

      I have added some more ethical principles to this list:

      Treat your fellow ministers with great respect.  Do not openly criticize them from your pulpit or teach your people to judge the members of another church. 

      Involve your self and your church congregation with sectional, district and national areas of fellowship.  Expose them to UPCI literature. 

      Speak highly of the UPCI from your pulpit.  Do not use your church for any purpose that will compromise or subvert the main reason for its existence—the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is not a sales organization, a social club, a community agency, an entertainment center, a theater or a restaurant. 

      Be wise with political comments.  Focus on issues that have biblical significance, not on candidates or political parties.