I very carefully say, “Yes.” Poor leadership is a form of clergy misconduct.
Please hear me out.
We are all sadly aware of clergy and other religious workers who have been caught committing financial or sexual misconduct. As a Mid-Council leader in the Presbyterian Church USA (i.e. I’m not a Bishop) I don’t have the power to fire pastors. When sexual and financial misconduct has clearly occurred, we have policies to bring charges against that pastor.
But what if the issue is simply poor leadership? “We like our pastor as a person but they are not a strong leader.” I hear that sometimes.
Important note: This not the same as “I don’t like our pastor’s preaching” or “I find the pastor’s personality to be cold.” This is about:
- Pastors who do everything themselves rather than train others.
- Pastors who need to be the smartest person in every room.
- Pastors who have no energy/do nothing but sit in their offices and what are they doing in there?
- Pastors whose energy is overpowering/they aren’t curious about the ideas of others/they don’t listen.
- Pastors who never initiate conversations about vision, legacy, or impact on the neighborhood.
- Pastors who – basically – don’t like people.
- Pastors who don’t think you are talking about them when constructive criticisms are shared.
- Pastors who blame others.
- Pastors who are defensive and fragile.
- Pastors who are wholly unaware of how ineffective they are/ have no self-awareness.
- Pastors who fear their congregants more than they fear God.
There. I said it. In my denomination it’s hard to move a pastor who doesn’t want to move unless a crime is committed. A pastor who needs to move but doesn’t can diminish a congregation to a point of no return in terms of bouncing back from an ineffective ministry to a thriving ministry. This is a form of misconduct.
I’ve shared before about the time a pastor in his 60s serving a dying congregation told me that he had calculated that the year he turned 70, the congregation would run out of money, so he was going to be okay. My response: Get behind me satan.
What do we do about these leaders?
What do we do when our pastor needs to improve their preaching but they won’t go to a preaching refresher course?
What do we do when our pastors need to control their anger/ bone up on their empathy/learn how to collaborate and they will not consider counseling or coaching?
What do we do when our pastor is no longer a good fit?
I wish I knew. What are your ideas?
Image is from The Apprentice Academy.
A Church for Starving Artists 
Is there not a name for the author?
If so, please direct me. If not, this not the kind of article that should be written without naming it and claiming it.
Anonymous is not acceptable if this is is indeed anonymous.
John Kennedy
LikeLike
Not anonymous. It says my name under the blog title.
LikeLike
Hi, Jan Edmiston who writes things here.
This really is one for the Committees on Ministry, eh? How to get to the point of being able to discern what’s ailing a congregation, and support/empower the members in the kinds of situations you describe. I think we periodically insist that the COM is not simply a support group for pastors, but the tasks that end up being involved, or perhaps needing to be involved, in one of those “poor leadership” situations tax the usual COM liaison structure, maybe to the breaking point. So COM training seems to hover in the background here.
There’s a lot in what you’ve named that’s about spiritual formation, too. How to encourage that – among clergy AND laity – is another ongoing challenge for the church.
Because ultimately, what you’re naming is about recognizing ourselves as accountable to Christ. Recognizing that accountability demands a great deal from us. Including never stopping growing. So … cultuvating that ethos.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi HAT – I’m not sure this is wholly a COM issue and yet our own COM liaisons in Charlotte Presbytery often address issues like leadership. COM is definitely more than a support group for pastors. I would say that the whole culture of a Presbytery needs to be about best serving God’s people – both within and outside the walls of the Church – in the name of Jesus Christ. This includes the CPM, personnel committees, mission teams, etc. etc. Yes, spiritual formation and a willingness to be disciples are essential.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our culture seems to focus a lot on the pastors. Congregations; non-believers; even their leadership who are to be their support system. The pastor is often made the issue.
I think the list should be applied to those in leadership above pastors – because just about everyone fails that list somewhere.
What do we do about clergy misconduct at the higher levels and the impact it has on the pastors? It’s almost impossible to move upper staff who are dysfunctional.
What happens when Presbyteries won’t train their COMs and do not hold them to governing standards and polity? Or asks things of pastors they don’t ask of themselves that are based on opinions and perceptions (like the list provided above) on top of vocations that are never-ending in the demands?
What if the Executive Presbyters and Stated Clerks and others won’t follow polity if it risks upsetting colleagues and requires hard work instead of easy solutions and scapegoating? Or don’t have the required training for the complex situations at hand and so instead they politic and try to please everyone?
Many leaders above pastors should read the list and take a long look at themselves.
I agree: poor leadership is a form of clergy misconduct and many at the Presbytery level and above often join the crowd in pointing the finger where it usually gets pointed: at pastors; instead of taking responsibility for their own failures.
Unfortunately, pastors are used to this scapegoating. Granted there are bad pastors, but many are far from perfect but good people serving in a role most wouldn’t ever take on themselves but will happily armchair critique.
Would love to see a post about this concerning the leaders of pastors and their misconduct.
LikeLike
Thank you Gustav for your comment. It sounds like you serve in a context where the mid-council leadership is not trustworthy and I’m so sorry about that. I served as a parish pastor for 27 years before moving into mid-council ministry and I believe (at the risk of sounding like my leadership is flawless – because it’s not) that healthy parish ministers make healthy mid-council leaders. We are in the process of ramping up our COM training as you suggest. Thanks for the comment.
LikeLike
Pingback: I Beg You. Stop Saying “Lay Leadership” | A Church for Starving Artists