Pastor Turnover

"The increasing conflicts in congregations has ... added to the dramatic turnover in ministry. The Southern Baptists have been fairly open about this, reporting in 1988 a peak of roughly 1,400 “forced terminations” — or firings — of pastors in one year. Subsequent surveys, conducted out of pastoral concerns for clergy themselves, found the number settling to under one thousand in 2000.

It was found that fired pastors had served, on average, for just three months. The primary cause has been “control issues regarding who will run the church,” reported the LifeWay ministry of the convention. Other factors included “poor people skills of the pastor” and a “pastoral leadership style perceived as too strong.”

While some worry that a third of all Baptist clergy will experience “termination” in their ministry, an outside scholar notes wryly that “Since the relationship between pastor and congregation is said to be God’s will, there is much (deeply ambivalent) laughter about God changing his mind so often.” The LifeWay study also found that 45 percent of the recently fired pastors left Baptist ministry: “We would like to know why so many did not return.” - Who Shall Lead Them? by Larry Whitham

Turnover among pastors has become an organizational barrier to churches for growth, efficiency and effectiveness. As the trend worsens, look for pastoral outsourcing solutions to be offered by larger churches absorbing unsettled churches as a satellite.

For those churches who are "closely held" by a small group of members, default on loans will be a potential failure point as attendance declines along with charitable giving. In some cases, employment agreements and severance packages will be more common as pastors demand on the front end of the employment/calling process financial guarantees that cover moving expenses and the inconvenience of displacing a family and leaving a previous position.

Committee based churches will be faced with the desire of Generation X and younger newly emerging church leaders to operate on loosely organized teams that trade tightly held autocratic rule for more goal oriented cooperation. When faced with conflict in beliefs about leadership, look for this cohort to depart the traditional church for more informal approaches to ministry.

Ultimately, churches who have a strong desire to survive and thrive will see a new breed of lay leaders arise that are more attuned to the difference between governance and management. In this scenario, lay leader board actions will be limited to the financial and fiducial responsibilities required by State and Federal rules that are outside the areas of ministry focus, message and staffing. Pastors will create leadership teams led by key lay leaders who have a focus and responsibility for their area of ministry emphasis.

Courtesy of Trend Ping