Hostile Toward Pastors

Hostile work environment: A good description of a "career" in ministry?

I'm not really sure why it happens, but it does. I've seen it often during my 25 plus years of lay leadership in churches. It is likely that I have even added to it myself. The hostile work environment that lay leaders create for their pastoral staff is interesting, confusing and manageable all at once.

As a result of the years of oppression and critique that we lay leaders have brought upon our pastors we have in many ways marginalized them in their pursuit of meaningful ministry. Pastors are on "high alert" regarding virtually every word they say and every move they make in fear of being criticized by their membership.

I have this theory that people who otherwise don't have a platform in life to assert their opinions migrate to the church as an "open mic night" disguised as a church-wide business meeting or committee setting. It is a rare church that throttles the verbal venom spewed from "well meaning brothers and sisters" who are pursuing their own version of "the Lord's work." Neck veins have popped at the pastor's expense over trite topics ranging from carpet color to meaningless increases to near poverty salaries. I hold lay leaders responsible for allowing, maybe even creating, this hostile environment.

Many swear that it's in the bible: Pastors are to serve their flock. Feed their flock. Protect their flock. There is some substance to that claim, but in the flock-scenario of their mindset the sheep rush the shepherd disarming him of his staff and then beat him into submission while at the same time berating him on his scrawny legs poking out from under his hideous robe. We are for the most part confused about who serves who.

As lay leaders we should lead. We must support our pastor in meaningful ways that build confidence, instill trust and encourage success. Our approach should include the defense of unity carefully following the biblical rules for confrontation. We should not allow spiritual-snipers to force our pastors into a fetal position of defenseless survival. We should ask the hard questions of those who are in opposition to our pastoral leaders:

1. Is their opposition or critique based on inaccurate information?
2. Have they made their opposition known to others without first approaching the pastor one-on-one?
3. Do they have a history of offering criticism without offering to be part of the solution?
4. Does their position lack biblical merit?
5. Does their opposition lack evidence that supports their claim?
6. Are they approaching the situation without love and respect for the pastor?

If you determine any of these 6 questions to be true, it is your obligation as a lay leader to protect your pastor and intervene. For the church to survive, or even thrive, lay leaders must come to the defense of their pastors. We must encourage them and serve as a defense between them and those who forget to love and respect the called of God.

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