Many preachers receive little
support from their fellowship, or denominational offices when it comes to
dealing with Clergy Killers in their congregations. I
talked to a number of preachers about their reaction to the ministers of the
UCC in Canada becoming part of a union. Most
of the preachers I spoke with were understanding, even if they felt like a
union was the wrong solution. Some preachers
from formal denominations feel that their denomination provides the job
security, benefits, and wage protection.
However, the presences of denominational protections are not a guarantee
against emotional hardship or personal attacks.
Preachers from non-denominational churches or loosely affiliated
denominations/fellowships expressed the highest levels of insecurity.
Personally, I come from the
perspective of one who has be raised, trained, and has ministered in a
non-denominational fellowship made up of autonomous, independent
congregations. The solution for Clergy
Killers will vary widely depending on affiliation, but there are a few
principles that might be helpful. These
suggestions are by no means exhaustive, but may serve as a beginning
point.
·
Be realistic when asked about a congregation.
The first step is that we must be
painfully honest about congregations. I
was once asked to consider a church that was looking for a minister. I was told, “This is a good opportunity.” Looking at this church, I found that she had
a turn over rate for ministers that was staggering. Most of the ministers that left resigned
under pressure, a few were fired, and all were discouraged. The leadership of the church was notably
harsh in dealing with preachers. This
leadership was committed to keeping control and maintaining their power and authority;
as a result, the church had not grown in a very long time. Yet someone had the naivety to call this “a
good opportunity”. As long as we are dishonest about the
condition of clergy killer churches, we will continue to see these churches
devastate ministers with impunity.
·
Reject the myth of the right fit.
We have often excused clergy
killing churches by saying, “They haven’t found the ‘right fit’”. Finding the right fit between minister and
congregation is challenging. But we
mustn’t shift the blame of bad behavior away from those behaving badly with a
no-fault cliché. I have known churches
that never seem to find the right fit. They have had ministers that were young,
old, middle aged, intellectual, dynamic, evangelistic, pastoral and every other
possible style of ministry. There is no
right fit for an evil congregation! Say
it with me: There is “no right fit” for
an evil congregation! We must accept
that fact that just as there are evil people, there are also evil churches.
·
We must demand that with authority, there is
accountability.
Authority without accountability
is an absolute formula for disaster. Whether
the polity is that of an independent congregation or a highly structured
denomination, where there is authority there must be accountability. When a congregation begins looking for a
minister, there will be those who have the formal or informal authority to
guide or assist in that process. If a
person, office, or organization consistently enables dysfunctional churches to
hire and then abuse ministers, those persons, offices, or organization needs to
be held accountable.
·
Practice good church discipline.
The first objective of church
discipline is always restorative. The
second role of church discipline is protective; to protect the innocent from
the actions of evil people. That needs
to be done with troublesome churches. Without
being mean- spirited or vindictive, churches that are vicious to ministers need
to be told, “Until you bear the fruit of repentance regarding the way you have
treated past ministers, we will not help you find a new minister. We will help you address these issues, but
until we see evidence of change, we cannot recommend any minister to you.”
·
Offer coaching during transition.
Churches that have a high
turnover rate or have ministers consistently leaving under distress need to perform
a guided self-evaluation when a minister leaves. There are surely enough wise, godly people to
spot sick churches and offer them help.
Such a transition check up can help catch and perhaps reverse clergy
killer tendencies. If this is a new
pattern, perhaps it can be broken before it becomes part of the church’s culture. It might be difficult to force unhealthy
churches to participate in such a review with their whole heart. But their refusal to participate can be noted
when minister’s inquire about the congregation.
·
Mark land mines.
Long after active hostilities end,
war ravaged nations have to deal with unexploded landmines. Signs warning about the presence of landmines
often mark dangerous areas. Travellers
are free to go to these places, but they do so knowing the risk. Churches that have a record of battering
ministers need to be marked as a spiritual mine field because some clergy
killer churches will never change. It is
not going to happen ever. Clergy killers
are completely committed to their agenda and power and will not see that power
challenged. Many clergy killers could
relate to Milton’s Paradise Lost where
Satan says, “Better to reign in hell
than serve in Heaven.”
·
“Put us out of our misery.”
Some clergy killer churches are
angry, bitter, and mean-spirited because they are dying and don’t have processes
to deal with the reality. There are
occasions when the best thing to do is help a church that is dead or dying
close, rather than have it continue to exist as a Zombie church (not dead and
not living) that keeps killing preachers.
All living things have a life cycle: birth, growth, maturity,
reproduction, decline, and death. The
church is no different. When a church
has passed from decline to death but keeps operations, it can easily become a
clergy killer. In such cases, churches
need loving, gentle, congregational, hospice care.
·
Address this issue in Bible college/seminary.
The training that Bible College
and seminary students receive concerning conflicts within the church is
woefully inadequate. When it comes to
the presence of actively evil people in leadership undermining ministry, I have
yet to hear of the subject being addressed.
I corresponded with the head of the ministry department at one large
Bible College asking him to address these issues. He responded that they didn’t want to
discourage young ministers by being too negative. That is the equivalent of refusing to tell a
soldier in infantry training that he might be shot at because he might find it
discouraging! Every Bible College and
seminary ought to have a module or focused study on the reality of clergy
killers and how to address them. Until
that happens, ministry training is incomplete.
·
Emphasize church planting.
One possible solution to the
problem of clergy killer congregation is to divert the energy and manpower away
from unhealthy churches and invest it in new church planting. In my work with congregations, I have found
that new church plants are generally less prone to the problems of clergy
killers. Bible colleges and seminaries
need to emphasize church planting as part of their ministry training
curriculum. That includes planting
churches even out of existing congregations.
Let’s call it what it is, a church split. For years, I was passionately opposed to the
possibility of anything good coming from a church planted out of a split. Two things changed my mind. First, was seeing healthy dynamic churches
that grew when they left the mother church.
Second, seeing the mother church after the split continue as a stagnant
church that abused the preachers. We
must be very judicious about such a venture; hence, the value of careful and
thoughtful training on the subject.
·
Speak out in a national or regional forum.
In the same way that colleges
have not addressed this issue, national and regional conventions and
conferences have been negligently silent.
I have yet to hear of any national or regional convention or conference
that has made the subject of clergy killers either a main session subject or a
workshop topic. In my own fellowship, I
have written and asked that this be a part of our convention program. The most frequent response was silence. I was informed that if a ministry that dealt
with this issue were so inclined the convention would gladly rent them space in
the display hall. I fear this profound silence is motivated by
attention to revenue rather than ministry.
The same can be said for the
treatment of the subject by publishing houses.
While there have been some articles in some journals, by and large, the
publishing houses associated with given denominations are painfully silent on
the subject.
I can at times become very
pessimistic about the issue of clergy killers in the church. I have valid reasons to be so. But I remain positive because I believe out
of the chaos often comes our greatest opportunity.
No comments:
Post a Comment