This is a wonderfully readable exposition into the thicket of clerical ethics beneath which lurks the constant potential of legal action in an evermore litigious society. Rankin leaves no doubt that there are no quick solutions, but he masterfully weaves a fabric of the ethical issues (often laces with agonizing contradiction), the evolution of applicable legal principles, and a practical methodology for coping with unsettling--and enraging litigation. --Ivan Weinberg, Esq., Partner, Weinberg, Campbell & Stone, Sausalito, California Rankin's excellent book is a long overdue resource for clergy and lay professionals; a pastoral and prophetic account with wide appeal and deep insight into the ethics of professional ministry. Legal, ethical, and theological dimensions are addressed with sensibility and integrity. --Fredrica Harris Thompsett, Academic Dean and Professor of Church History, Episcopal Divinity School A wonderful witness to why the Church's theology and ethics ought to reclaim the rich experience and real sagacity of its parish clergy. The issue is confidentiality, and the resources (or lack of them) for clergy who are confronted with whether to maintain or divulge it. Here is a scholarly and sensitive treatment of a much too-neglected, too-ignored, and ill-informed matter which is of enormous importance to clergy of all sorts. --Professor Harmon L. Smith, Divinity School, Duke University