Abortion and the Pulpit

Why Pastors Avoid the Abortion Issue And What to Do About That

By Ernest L. Ohlhoff, NRLC Director of Outreach

"Sure I know abortion is wrong but I can't preach about it because there are at least ten (twenty, thirty...) members in my congregation who have had an abortion. I don't want to alienate them (or make them feel guilty) by making them relive their abortion."

This is by far the most common reason offered by pastors to explain why they will not give a pro-life sermon or homily, much less allow a pro-life committee to be formed in their church. This is a very human, understandable response, rooted in a desire to avoid opening a wound.

Yet, as we shall see, this reluctance to speak out honestly about abortion results in the very consequences silence is supposed to avoid: hurt, alienation, and intense emotional pain.

Many pastors preach regularly about other moral issues - - alcoholism, drug abuse, poverty, discrimination, terrorism, etc. - - but abortion always somehow seems to fall below the radar screen. As a result, (when they think about it at all) many/most church members consider abortion to be wrong but not that wrong. How can it be all that significant when the pastor never preaches against it?

However, the unfortunate consequence is that the number of people in a given church involved in an abortion experience will continue to grow. This aftermath of silence - - even more abortions - - increases the pressure on the pastor to "low profile" the issue publicly and try to deal with it on a one-on- one basis.

So, the bitter irony is that by not speaking about abortion (for fear of hurting women), even more women are victimized. Truth is truth. When the truth is conveyed lovingly and compassionately, the door is open to experience a wonderfully healing balm.

Women know perfectly well that silence from the pulpit was just what they didn't need at a time of crisis in their lives. Many women have told me that as they began to work through their healing after abortion, one of the people they were most angry with was their pastor.

They were angry precisely because the pastor chose not to discuss the morality of abortion publicly. This leaves women in crisis pregnancy situations to decide one of the most serious issues imaginable completely on their own.

"If only my pastor had told us about the reality of abortion, I never would have chosen to kill my baby - - everybody else was encouraging me to have the abortion," is a common response. "I was hoping and praying for just one trusted friend or person to tell me the truth about abortion. They all failed me. Their silence caused me so much pain."

So Where to Go? What to Do?

Let's begin with the easiest case first - - pastors who are basically pro-life but relatively silent on the issue.

One of the best ways to take away the fear of speaking about abortion is for the pastor to invite another pastor, one well versed in presenting the abortion issue, to give guest homilies or sermons. Such speakers are not hard to find.

There are a variety of "For Life" groups within many denominations, such as Lutherans for Life, Presbyterians Pro- Life, and United Friends for Life (UFL) to mention just a few. One of the most successful is Priests for Life (Catholic), which now has five priests who are available to present guest homilies to Catholic parishes across America, etc.

These groups can help you locate a pastor within your denomination able to present the abortion issue in a caring and positive way while still focusing on the serious moral nature and consequences of abortion.

Most of these groups have partnered together to form the National Pro-Life Religious Council. NPRC helps strengthen the pro-life base among Christians by sending a clear message to America; pro-abortion groups such as the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice do not speak for or represent most Christians.

I have personally seen pastors (or visiting pastors) deliver well constructed pro-life sermons to a congregation that had never previously heard such as message. On at least five occasions the congregations erupted in spontaneous applause.

Why? People are hungry for moral guidance. Deep down almost everyone who has a functioning conscience knows that abortion is wrong.

Truth is truth. When the truth of abortion's ugly nature is presented compassionately, caringly, and with moral clarity, most people will appreciate the candor and courage of the pastor.

Another resource is National Right to Life's Outreach Department, which will be happy to help you find pastors within your denomination available to present guest sermons or homilies.

STOP!!!

Before you read any further remember that your success will turn on how you approach your pastor. The last thing you want to do is to sound like you are telling the pastor he or she doesn't know how to give a "pro-life" sermon.

Your approach should be to tell him or her that you have heard about a pastor or a pro-life group of pastors within your denomination who is available to come deliver a guest pro-life sermon. It is vital to explain that one of the key topics in the sermon will be an outreach to women who have experienced the soul-wrenching pain of abortion.

Stress the many positive aspects of the sermon: educating people about the physical and psychological dangers of abortion, about alternatives to abortion, and about the spiritual consequences of abortion. (You can be sure that post-abortion syndrome is both true and important by the anger with which pro-abortion groups deny its reality.)

Ask for a meeting with your pastor and bring someone who has gone through the healing process after an abortion. After this visit you are in a good position to specifically ask the pastor to give a sermon about the tragic aftermath known as post- abortion syndrome and encourage him to invite women willing to discuss their abortion experience.

A good friend of mine who has written several books on post- abortion syndrome told me that as a pastor he was always opposed to abortion. But it was only when he began to counsel women who had experienced an abortion, he said, that he became an "active pro-lifer."

He told me that these hurting women taught him more about abortion than what he learned from all other sources combined. Try to get your pastor to close his pro-life sermon with the affirmative statement, "The Doors of the Church Are Open to You."

Many women (and men) are in desperate need of spiritual healing. Other women are experiencing difficult pregnancies. Unless they have the courage to seek counseling from their pastor, they may conclude that having an abortion is no big deal because it is never mentioned in church or that the pastor is uncomfortable with the issue.

The testimony of another pastor who has already brought in a guest pastor can help convince your pastor he can both talk about abortion in a nonjudgmental way and meet the spiritual needs of his flock. With this reassurance, he or she is likely to take the plunge.

Our job is to help pastors see that no issue is more relevant to their vocation than saving unborn babies and their mothers.

[The NRLC Outreach Department has available copies of a new book, The Right Choice, published by the National Pro-Life Religious Council, which contains 14 sample pro-life sermons. The book price is $11.45 including shipping.

The address is 512-10th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004.]

How To Work With Your Pastor

Try the following approaches with your pastor. If one does not succeed, try another. Don't be a pest, but do be politely and respectfully persistent.

1. Try to get your pastor to invite a guest pastor to present a pro-life sermon.

2. Give your pastor copies of books containing sample pro-life sermons.

3. Discuss with your pastor the need to reach out to women suffering from post-abortion syndrome.

4. Ask your pastor to increase your church's outreach to women who are experiencing problem pregnancies.

5. Find someone who had been healed after an abortion to discuss post-abortion syndrome in detail.

6. Encourage him or her to "open the doors of the church" to women with problem pregnancies and to women who want to discuss their abortion experience.

Be politely and respectfully persistent. The February edition of NRL News will offer some suggestions on how to try to reach pastors who are "pro-choice" - - a much more difficult, but not insuperable challenge.