In order to clearly identify the importance of confidentiality within the church setting, it is vitally important to define the term, which can mean so many different things to different people. Newton Malony defines confidentiality as "the act of protecting from disclosure that which one has been told under the assumption that it will not be revealed without permission.1" In terms of the relationship between ministers and church members, confidentiality may de defined as, keeping information given by or about an individual in the course of a professional relationship secure and secret from others.2 Ministers are among those in society whose role necessitates that they are exposed to much more confidential information than others. Confidentiality is central to the maintenance of trust between a minister and his congregation. This principle of professional confidentiality has been recognized for thousands of years. In the Hippocratic Oath the Greek physician Hippocrates promised the following: 'What I may see or hear in the course of treatment or even outside the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.' (cit. Marsden, 3) 3 Confidentiality is owed equally to all people across the cultural spectrum; mature adults and immature minors, as well as adults who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves. Essentially, we are required to keep the confidences of anyone to whom we owe a duty of care as defined by the all-embracing biblical concept of a ‘neighbour’ (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19). The obligation to be confidential may even extend beyond the death of the individual. Joseph E Bush states that, “It is important, though, for members of the clergy to remember that their legal privilege of silence and their moral duty of confidentiality are both related to the dignity and rights of those who have confided in them.'4 According to Andrew Marsden, confidentiality is integral to all human relationships, and thus to the functioning of society as a whole5. There are few relationships where this is more important than that between a minister and his congregants. What a church member shares with a minister may be very personal to the individual, and as a result, the minister who is confidential is protecting a person's privacy. Confidentiality refers to the boundaries surrounding shared secrets and the process of guarding those boundaries. It is a responsibility which extends far beyond simply verbal communication and includes, all forms of transmission; verbal, written, digital, manual or hardcopy records, videos and illustrations etc., wherever they can be identified with a specific individual. Cloud & Townsend state, “Boundaries define us. They define what is me and what is not me. A boundary shows me where I end and someone else begins, leading me to a sense of ownership.”6 T. Van Asperen asserts that at the most basic level confidentiality protects our sense of self. She stresses the importance of an awareness of the differences between ourselves and others. To develop a sense of self is to develop a sphere of one's own to which others may be admitted but which they need permission to enter.7 This being the case, confidentiality involves valuing and respecting a person at the core of who they are. Van Asperen further asserts that, “integral to our sense of identity is the fact that we are created so that our thoughts are inviolable to other human beings. Secrecy protects whatever individual right might be violated by our thoughts being laid bare.” 8 Marsden goes as far as to say that a violation of a secret shared contravenes the command not to steal (Exodus 20:15). He references the analogy that just as an invitation to a house does not give one the right to start selling the furni­ture, receiving confidential information does not give one the right to make it public.9 People ‘own’ the information about themselves, which they are sharing with entrusted others. However, just as property rights have their limitations, so the right to secrets is limited by just law, the rights of others, and the exigencies of the social order.10 Professional confidentiality is vital because it enables church members to seek help they might otherwise fear to ask for. The knowledge that what they reveal will be kept secret is therefore integral to the proper function­ing of the relationship. Any genuinely therapeutic relationship must be based on trust. Confidentiality is vital to healthy relationships and its lack carries with it great potential for harm. The Apostle James described the tongue as a, “restless fire with great potential for evil” James 6:3. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon stated in very stark terms that, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” Proverbs 18:21. American poet Will Carleton penned the words, "Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds; You