It used to be that clergy knew the difference between right and wrong. After all, teaching such matters was seen as a core part of the job.

But eroding standards, moral ambiguity, and other factors have made that assumption dangerous, says Luder Whitlock, who chaired a drafting committee for a National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) clergy code of ethics for clergy.

The code, released today, urges trustworthiness, integrity, purity, fairness, and accountability. The text of the code is available at NAECodeofEthics.com in both English and Spanish.

Christianity Today editor in chief David Neff interviewed Whitlock, who was a pastor for 10 years and president of Reformed Theological Seminary for 23 years. Under his leadership, RTS grew from a small regional school to one of the 10 largest seminaries in North America. Today, he is executive director of the Seneff Family Foundation and the CNL Charitable Foundation. (David Neff and Leadership editor in chief Marshall Shelley served on the ethics code drafting committee.)

Read the full article at Christianity Today.

David Neff

David Neff was editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, where he worked from 1985 until his retirement in 2013. He is also former editor in chief of Christian History magazine, and continues to explore the intersection of history and current events in his bimonthly column, “Past Imperfect.” Neff also taught at Walla Walla College in College Place, Washington, and served on the editorial team at InterVarsity Press. He is a graduate of La Sierra University, Andrews University and San Francisco Theological Seminary.