Support, however, is not enough, there needs also to be accountability. Every church needs their minister to be in a small group where they can be told the truth about themselves. One of the crucial ways to avoid this is to ensure there is a community where the minister can know and be known. If the church has a special role, so does the minister. We are sinners, too, and we need the courage to place ourselves in a community of love and accountability.
Some churches offer such to pastors and, sad but true, the opportunity is turned down.
Another help is for the minister and his or her family to set helpful and clearly defined boundaries. One of my friends, for example, turns on his answering machine only during his family's dinner hour. It is his way of keeping that vital family time sacrosanct. A further boundary has to do with appropriate sexual behavior, and needs to involve the family and the staff. As a man I simply will not see a woman in her home by herself, nor will I do so in my office.