Surviving a Power Play
Marshall Shelley
How much fire-power is appropriate in a church fight? No Geneva Convention has established any rules.
—Marshall Shelley Church conflict can take many forms. Sometimes it's just random sniping—isolated complaints, but dangerous enough to keep you always wary: "I have some concerns about our church, Pastor, which I've been sharing at our prayer group." Other times, the conflict is confined to border skirmishes—different groups squabbling over "turf"—who gets to decide the Sunday school curriculum or who gets priority in using the multipurpose room? Other times, however, the conflict is all-out war or a well-planned palace coup. Nothing less than the ouster of the pastor will satisfy the opposition, and nothing less than a groundswell of popular support will keep the pastor in place. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the way such conflict can escalate from one stage to the next is simply to tell one pastor's experience, then to allow him to reflect on what he learned. I remember sitting more than once with the pastor who told the following story (in which the names have been changed). In the midst of the conflict, the strain visible in his face belied his words, with which he tried to be positive and upbeat. Only after the war was over did he reveal most of the details. Pastor Charles Westerman was surprised when Jack Kenton was picked by the nominating committee for the position of board chairman. Only six months earlier, Charles had heard via the grapevine that Jack was thinking of leaving Morningside Chapel. Charles remembered several occasions when Jack had mentioned, "Pastor, the church isn't as friendly as it used to be; we're growing too fast to keep up with everyone." Charles agreed with that not unusual observation, but ...
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