"Our Pastor is Not a Good Fit for our Church"
The committee could not find any specific reasons they wanted the pastor to leave. Church attendance was healthy, the congregation was responding well to the minister’s leadership, and finances were in line with expectations. But there was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the preacher, and had been since day one.
“You’re just not a good fit for our church” was all the committee could come up with.
They wanted him out. If he refused to go peacefully, a movement would be started to oust him forcibly. Keep reading
Is Your Ministry Position A Perfect Fit?
Several years ago I had a church search committee member call me to come to work for them. This gentleman was the second caller of two from the same place. Both were charged with the mission of convincing me to make a career move. While it was an honor to be sought after, I knew it was best to come to closure quickly on a request like this. I have found that to have a divided mind in this line of work makes an already consuming job become completely suffocating. Before even considering what kind of carrot is being dangled in front of my face, I need to ask myself a few fundamental questions: Do I feel a sense of closure where I am currently serving? Have I done all that God intends for me to do in the fellowship where I work? Have a learned from the Lord all that I am supposed to learn while in this place? Keep reading
What You Don't Know Can Hurt You
Have you ever noticed, the more you look for something, the more you find it? Like when you get a new car – the next week, you see dozens of them. That’s what I’m feeling right now about today’s topic. I’ve been shocked by how many leaders I’m encountering who have low self-awareness.
Self-awareness is huge for leaders. You can argue it’s important for everyone, but for leaders, a gap here may be the determining factor in your ability to lead at all.
How self-aware are you? Keep reading
My Top 7 Relational Practices for Dealing with Church Conflict
If you’ve been pastoring for more than a month, you’ve had someone go nuclear on you. You know what I mean . . . a charter member, board member or disgruntled church member drops a bomb on you that blows you up! Deserved or not, it hurts. Ready or not, it comes with destructive power that sends you into an emotional mess.
Perhaps they’ve never read what Solomon wrote, “The tongue has the power of life and death . . .” (Proverbs 18:21), and they don’t understand the wound they’ve inflicted.
So what should you do when you’re deeply disappointed with someone? Whether you’ve been hurt by a nasty email or upset by a post-service meltdown, what are the best ways to deal with your frustration and anger?
Here are some things that will help.... Keep reading
Should You Stay or Should You Go?
Often pastors ask, “When do I know God is calling me to another church?” I asked a pastor that question once. He had been pastor of the same church for forty-two years and eight months before he retired. I asked him if he ever thought of taking another church during that time. His reply was humorously profound. He said, “When I wanted to leave, no other church asked me. When other churches asked me, I did not want to leave.” If all pastors found the question that simple, there would be far fewer pastors changing churches.
The rule of thumb is to stay where you are if you can. As one minister told me, “At least I know what the problems are in my church. I don’t know what they are in another church.” One pastor’s wife noted that the problems are the same in every church. Just the faces change. There is a lot of truth in that. The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence. But it isn’t. Keep reading
When a Pastor Prepares to Leave
Life is full of transitions, but perhaps no transition is more difficult to manage than when a pastor considers transitioning to a new place of service. Transitions are best handled through conversation – talking it through with others. But a pastor who is considering (or preparing for) a call to another church has very few people with whom to process the transition.
Being a pastor can be rather lonely, but the loneliness is never so profound as when a transition looms. Even a pastor who values transparency must be guarded with the knowledge that he is considering a move, lest his current congregation catch wind of the transition and create a mess – for the pastor and the congregation.
What’s a pastor to do? My encouragement for pastors is to find two or three safe people with whom to process the decision and to recognize three relationships to engage with caution. Keep reading
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