Church of American Strength & Hope
CHURCH · KITCHEN · COMMUNITY
Pastoral Care Code of Conduct
The standards we hold. In writing. In public.
This is the Pastoral Care Code of Conduct for Church of American Strength & Hope. It governs how pastors and pastoral counselors at CASH conduct themselves with members, visitors, and care recipients. It is public so that accountability is not a private claim. Effective May 9, 2026.
§ 1 · Authority and Scope
Pastoral counseling at CASH operates under First Amendment protections for sincere religious practice. It is religious healing ministry, not licensed clinical care. This Code governs that ministry. It does not displace civil law, mandatory reporting law, or applicable South Carolina statutes; where civil law and this Code conflict, civil law prevails.
The Code applies to anyone holding a pastoral care role at CASH: pastors, pastoral counselors in training, lay pastoral care assistants, and Paupers Panel facilitators when functioning in a pastoral capacity.
§ 2 · Doctrinal Foundation
The Code rests on the doctrinal framework: Anti-Entropy Theology, Imago Trinitatis, the 19 Maxims, and PCAS. Pastors at CASH minister within this framework. They do not claim clinical expertise outside of it.
Maxim 3 (Three Absolutes: never lie, test all things, love without malice), Maxim 14 (Some Patterns Corrupt: not all integration is safe), and Maxim 15 (Every Mistake Contains Information: failure carries wisdom and absolution applies) are operative throughout this Code.
§ 3 · Honesty
3.1 No clinical claims
Pastors do not diagnose, prescribe, or claim to treat medical or psychiatric disease. They name what they are doing in religious and pastoral terms, not clinical terms.
3.2 No exaggeration of outcomes
Pastors do not promise specific outcomes. They describe the framework honestly, including its limits and what it refers out.
3.3 No misleading credentials
Pastors disclose their actual training: ordination status, pastoral preparation, and any clinical credentials they do or do not hold. Pastoral counseling is named pastoral counseling, not therapy.
§ 4 · Boundaries
4.1 Sexual conduct
No sexual contact, sexual overture, or sexualized conduct between a pastor and a care recipient. No exception. The pastoral relationship is a position of spiritual authority; sexualizing it is a violation of that authority.
4.2 Financial conduct
No personal loans, investments, or business ventures between a pastor and a current care recipient. Donations to the church follow the public Give page; nothing personal flows directly to the pastor for pastoral services.
4.3 Dual relationships
Where a dual relationship is unavoidable in a small church (a member who is also a co-laborer in a ministry program), the pastor names the dual relationship out loud, documents it in the pastoral notes, and refers care to a different pastor when the conflict materially affects the work.
4.4 Time and place
Pastoral counseling takes place at the church or another agreed pastoral setting. Sessions outside that frame are scheduled, named, and documented.
§ 5 · Confidentiality
5.1 General rule
What a member shares with a pastor in pastoral care stays with the pastor. Notes are pastoral, not clinical, and are stored separately from any general member records.
5.2 Exceptions
Confidentiality is broken only for: imminent danger to self or others; abuse of a child, elder, or vulnerable adult; court order. Where a court order is issued, the pastor will assert pastoral privilege under SC law where applicable. Mandatory reporting laws are followed without exception.
5.3 Spousal and family disclosure
A pastor does not relay what one spouse or family member said to another spouse or family member without explicit, contemporaneous permission, except where the exceptions in 5.2 apply.
§ 6 · Competence and Referral
6.1 Stay in lane
Pastors at CASH minister within the doctrinal framework and PCAS. When a person presents a condition outside that scope, or when the pastoral relationship is no longer adequate, the pastor refers.
6.2 What we refer out
Active suicidal crisis with plan and means; acute psychosis; medical disease; medication management; court-ordered treatment requiring a licensed provider; conditions requiring immediate medical intervention.
6.3 Who we refer to
South Carolina–licensed clinicians (LCSW, LPC, LMFT, psychologists, psychiatrists), county emergency services, and 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline). The pastor maintains a working referral list and will provide names on request.
§ 7 · Power and Voluntariness
7.1 Voluntary participation
All pastoral care at CASH is voluntary. A care recipient may end pastoral counseling at any time, for any reason, without explanation, without penalty, and without consequence to membership.
7.2 No coercion
Pastors do not condition food, draw entry, or any other church service on participation in pastoral counseling. Counseling is not used as leverage and is not denied as punishment.
7.3 Capacity
Pastoral counseling assumes adult capacity to consent. Care for minors requires the consent of a parent or legal guardian and is conducted with appropriate safeguarding.
§ 8 · Records
8.1 Pastoral notes
Notes document pastoral ministry in theological and pastoral terms and are stored under access limited to pastoral staff. Notes are not clinical records and are not formatted as clinical records.
8.2 Retention
Pastoral notes are retained for the duration of the pastoral relationship plus a reasonable period for follow-up. Written requests for deletion are honored except where law requires retention.
8.3 Care recipient access
On written request, a care recipient may receive a summary of their own pastoral notes. Third parties do not receive notes without the recipient's written, contemporaneous consent or a valid court order.
§ 9 · Complaints and Accountability
9.1 Where to write
A complaint about a pastor's conduct under this Code may be sent in writing to preacherb@cashvalues.org with the subject "Pastoral Code Complaint." Anonymous complaints are received but are harder to act on.
9.2 Who handles it
A complaint about Pastor B is reviewed by the church's board of directors. A complaint about another pastor is reviewed by Pastor B and the board. Where a board member is the subject of the complaint, that member recuses from review.
9.3 What can happen
Outcomes range from no-action (complaint not substantiated) through written counsel, suspension of pastoral duties, and removal from pastoral office. Where civil or criminal conduct is alleged, the board reports to the appropriate civil authority.
9.4 No retaliation
A complainant does not lose membership, draw entry, kitchen access, or any other church service for filing a complaint in good faith.
§ 10 · Review and Revision
This Code is reviewed annually by the board. Material changes are announced on cashvalues.org and dated above. The version of the Code that governs a given pastoral relationship is the version in force when the relationship begins, unless both parties acknowledge a later version in writing.
§ 11 · Contact
Questions about this Code, in good faith, are welcome at preacherb@cashvalues.org. Church of American Strength & Hope, 127 University Drive, Ladson, SC 29456.
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CHURCH · KITCHEN · COMMUNITY
Church of American Strength & Hope · Ladson, SC · 501(c)(3) · EIN 41-4115277. Built on Christ, the Cornerstone.
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