Anyone who has read my books or attended one of my workshops knows that I believe in strong pastoral leadership. If one is called to lead, then he or she should lead. If a church calls a pastor to lead then that church should allow that person to lead. However, there is a difference between being a leader and being a dictator.
A lay person recently called to tell me about problems existing in their church with their current pastor. Anyone who disagrees with this person is ridiculed, ignored, or asked to resign their positions. This person had been an effective leader in that church for three decades, strongly supported previous pastors, faithfully tithed, but now she was finding she could no longer attend the church due to the pastor's dictatorial ways. She called desperately wanting to know what could be done.
This was not the first call I had received about this church so I was not surprised about the accusations. I was also not surprised about the response I received concerning my recommendations. As I did to the other callers, I encouraged this person to contact the leadership board in the church and ask for an opportunity to meet with them and the pastor to discuss what is happening in the church. As previous callers had told me, this caller responded that the leaders will not confront this person nor will they address the issue. I then told the caller that in that case the church deserves the pastoral leadership they are getting.
A healthy church will be one that enjoys strong pastoral leadership, but not dictatorship. A healthy church is one in which the pastor can accept constructive criticism regarding his or her ministry in that church. Every pastor has blind spots that will not be seen until they are pointed out by someone with the courage to speak up, and a pastor should welcome such input as it can only strengthen his or her ministry in that church and in the future.
Unfortunately, when a church selects lay persons to leadership positions who will not lead, who do not have the courage to confront obvious wrong in their church, that church will quickly struggle. Good people will not allow themselves to be abused by others and will leave the congregation in search of another one. They will take their leadership talents, their financial support, and their efforts elsewhere. Soon the church will consist only of those who are so needy and desperate that they are willing to accept pastoral abuse, and the church will quickly spiral downhill.
This is what is happening in this church. A once great congregation is being reduced to ruin because of the actions of a pastor that no one is willing to confront. This pastor has mistaken strong pastoral leadership with a "my way or the highway" approach to ministry, and he is abetted in this wrong-headed approach to ministry by a board lacking in courage unwilling to confront this style of pastoral leadership. It is a sad thing to see.
2 comments:
It is not a surprise there are leaders like this. I see several as a Baptist pastor fellowshipping with others and hearing their stories. What does surprise me is how often people let their leaders get away with this.
I agree. While I never encourage church wars, there are times when people need to stand up to dictatorial leaders, and in too many churches no one is willing to do that until the bleeding in the church becomes so bad that it is near death. I have urged people who have faithfully invested three decades of their lives in the ministry of a church to go to their lay leaders asking them to intervene in the abuse that exists in their church only to see them walk away. It breaks my heart, and I cannot understand how someone can do that.
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