Avoid the Top 5 Reasons for Pastoral Terminations, Part 5, Who Runs the Church?

Written by Bob Sheffield

Cause #1 Control Issues over "Who runs the church?"

"Pastor, this is our church and not yours and it is about time you realized this."

As a pastor, you probably have had something like this said to you over the course of your pastoral ministry. As pastors we can get caught up in a tug of war over power and control issues with specific individuals or groups in the church. Sometimes this happens before we realize it is happening. At other times we may try to deliberately challenge the exercise of power by these individuals and groups.

Depending on the circumstances and the people involved, you can find yourself facing forced termination. You can help to avoid this by heeding the following understandings and suggestions.

Understanding #1: Satan always tries to use power and control issues as a temptation to cause the church to lose focus and/or effectiveness on its real mission.

Understanding #2: God is supposed to “run” the church and not man. God established the church and sent Christ to establish the church through His blood and serve as the head of His church. No individual, not even the pastor, nor groups of individuals should seek to run the church.

Understanding #3: Individuals and groups within the church are granted great leadership authority and trust by the church because of their faithful service over the years. You will do well, if possible, to find ways to work with them instead of competing with them.

Understanding #4: In the typical Southern Baptist Church, the pastor is granted the privilege of temporary leadership because of his position. This does not mean the church as a whole will either completely trust or follow him. During this time he has to earn the right of leadership. Even if he earns this, however, it does not mean that the congregation will cease to seek the guidance of other trusted leaders in the congregation.

Understanding #5: Decisions within the church are best made through prayerful consideration as the church seeks God’s leadership and not through dependence on mankind’s wisdom, preferences, or opinions.

Suggestions to neutralize power and control issues

1. Serve as a servant leader.
The book, Jesus on Leadership by C. Gene Wilkes, will help you understand what this means. Practicing servant leadership will help you to resist the satanic temptation to let your ego rule you when power and control issues occur.

2. Learn to share ministry with volunteer leaders in the church.
Rather than going head to head with power groups within the church, seek ways to utilize their knowledge and influence for the good of the church’s mission. This means that you have to spend time getting to know and earn the trust of these individuals. You will need to let God’s Holy Spirit give you the patience that this requires.

3. Focus on what God can do through the church and not on building your own reputation or resume.

Don’t try to pastor your next church while pastoring your current one.
“Pick your battles.” Don’t let your ego drive you to have to have your own way or be the authority in everything.

4. Accept the fact that some people will always resist your attempts at leadership and you will have to deal with them in love.
This does not mean giving in to them all the time but finding ways to disagree on a Christian level.

5. Pray unceasingly for God’s guidance and power.

Bob Sheffield served as a pastoral ministries specialist in the pastoral ministries area of LifeWay until 2007. In this role, he frequently consulted with churches on a number of staffing issues.

Prior to coming to LifeWay in 1985, Sheffield served as a pastor of churches in Mississippi and Texas for 25 years. He has also served as an interim pastor at numerous Nashville area churches.

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