The Local Church Who Works For Whom?
What is the extent of the pastor's authority? Is he accountable to the member-volunteers or are they accountable to him?
Norman Shawchuck
January 1, 1980
One of the most difficult and perplexing tasks for many pastors is confronting a volunteer or parttime worker. The worker may be doing a poor job, but happens to be a church member. The pastor is not sure which way the lines of accountability run. Do these people work for him? Or does he work for them? I know of a church which employs members on a part-time basis for typing, printing, cleaning, and visitation. The office area is crowded and poorly arranged. Several years ago the board gave the pastor permission to make necessary changes. He went to work on the problem by hiring an architect to design a new office arrangement. Yet to date, no changes have been made. The workers continue to labor in cramped and inefficient conditions. The reason? The architect's design called for moving the printing room from one location to another. However, the part-time printer, a member of the church, declared he would quit the job and withdraw his membership if the change were made. So the printing machine continues to clack away a few feet from the secretary's desk, and visitors continue to step around and over boxes on their way to the pastor's study. The pastor allows this to continue because he is not sure of his authority when it involves a part-time employee who is also a church member. Is the pastor accountable to the employee as a member, or is it the reverse? As a young pastor I served a small church in which the Sunday school superintendent was the wife of the board chairman. The Sunday school hour was the first event of the day and this family was consistently fifteen minutes late. Sunday after Sunday I would do a "slow burn" while the congregation impatiently waited for her to arrive to conduct the opening exercises. On several ...
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