Zion Lutheran pastor resigns amid misconduct allegations

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — The Rev. Dale Giffin has resigned as pastor at Zion Lutheran Church at the bishop’s request after service of nearly 30 years.

An interim pastor will be appointed after the first of the year, said Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, leader of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, to which Zion belongs.

She said she asked the Rev. Mr. Giffin to resign after receiving allegations of misconduct from some women of the church, for which the synod has a zero-tolerance policy.

“The church must be a safe place for all,” Bishop Eaton said.

Mr. Giffin resigned Nov. 16. The bishop said he also resigned from the clergy roster of the ELCA, though he was not asked by her to do so.

Bishop Eaton, who was elected in 2006, said that Linda Hilliard, pastor of spiritual growth and pastoral care, and Frank Gross, pastor of preaching and teaching at Zion, will fulfill pastoral duties at the church in the interim.

Pastor Hilliard has been a chaplain with the Lutheran Chaplaincy Service since 1991, serving first as chaplain at Forum Health and for the past six years as chaplain at Shepherd of the Valley in Boardman and Poland. She also assists in the Women’s Spiritual Growth events that take place throughout the year.

Pastor Gross retired from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Alliance.

Bishop Eaton said she met with the congregation Nov. 20. She also has met with the staff and church council.

She called the situation tragic, and noted that Mr. Giffin had been a “great preacher and teacher.”

Previously, Mr. Giffin served as pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Leetonia.

He is a 1971 graduate of Wittenburg University and Chicago Seminary.

He served a one-year internship in Santa Barbara, Calif., where he was a teacher in a parish. He also was director of a counseling staff for the Ohio Boys State program and was assistant to Inter-Media Center, developing creative uses in religion and worship.

He was named pastor of the church at 3300 Canfield Road, Cornersburg, in April 1979.

In the 1980s, a Vindicator story noted Mr. Giffin was among seven contenders to become bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod.

As recently as November, Mr. Giffin wrote the pastor’s message in Zion’s monthly newsletter.

In December’s newsletter, Pastor Hilliard addressed the sudden resignation of Mr. Giffin and “finding our way through a crisis.” She wrote, “For many of us, our faith in God, in the church, in other people have all been threatened. Spiritually speaking, this is a matter of life and death.”

Pastor Hilliard also wrote how the church has “suffered a loss” and noted “it is recommended to those healing from a major loss to wait at least a full year before they make any major decisions. This means we have to wait at least a year, if not a little bit longer, before we call our next pastor.”

She also addressed the inclination of members to want to stay away from the church but noted that the church will go on.