Building Trust Between Pastor and Congregation
What can be done about the fact that in many churches a pastoral crisis occurs about every 18 months?
Roy C. Price
April 1, 1980
I had been in the church only a few weeks when the message was as clear as a highway billboard with flashing spotlights: "We don't trust you." Not everyone felt that way, but I knew I was on trial. The next three years were among the most agonizing I'd spent in twenty-two years of pastoral work. The attendance dropped each year, and with it, a loss of receipts. Two years in a row yielded red ink reports. There was little visible response to the messages-our traditional barometer. I became aware that one leader wanted to find another pastor.
For the first time in my ministry, I chose not to run from the problem. But, the inner agony I experienced was tremendous. Doubts of all sorts flooded my mind. Did God call me to this church or did I act . impulsively? Was I called to pastoral work at all? Maybe I ought to throw in the towel and take up another field of work. Everything I tried to do seemed fruitless. Evangelism programs brought literally no results. For every new person gained it seemed two left.
During this period of time I had to ask one of my staff members to find another place to serve, a task I never imagined I'd face. The church board had agreed to allow me to buy a home when I first discussed a call with them. They later reversed that decision, citing low attendance and finances as reasons. All of this came as a personal ego-blow and a challenge to my ability to lead. At the root of the problems was a lack of trust in me. I had failed to evoke trust on the interpersonal level and as a pastoral leader.
Why don't people trust their pastors or church leadership? Many times it's simply because they have been burned. Dishonesty heads the list of culprits. It covers a large scope of things from withholding information ...
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