A Model For Multiple Staff Management
God does not call together church members only to see them divide the body of Christ.
Kent R. Hunter
July 1, 1981
When I arrived at my first church fresh out of graduate school, I was oblivious to the fact that I had walked out of the warm, protected womb of seminary academia into a virtual battlefield of unrest and power plays. The church had a reputation of staff tensions, divisions, and in-fighting.
The previous twenty years had seen the appearance and disappearance of three strong-willed pastoral leaders. The original, founding pastor had retired, the second pastor had been asked to leave, and the third pastor, caught in the crossfire of controversy surrounding the first two, made the wise choice to move to another church. I have no doubt that each of them was a fine, committed man of God called to serve in that large congregation. However, I also know God does not call together church workers only to see them divide the body of Christ.
When I arrived, this large congregation had been without pastoral leadership for three months. The details of the battles among the multiple staff are being omitted, for they differ drastically depending on whom you talk to. The important fact is that multiple staff tensions are not uncommon. It seems as though God chooses pastoral leaders in the church who are independent types: self-confident, dynamic, and usually quite set in their ways. These traits are strengths, not weaknesses. However, when these types of leaders have to work together, a potentially explosive situation exists.
Multiple staff problems are so widespread that most pastors are leery about adding staff. The end result is that as their congregations grow, they continue to try covering all the bases themselves. The effect, of course, is twofold: the quality of ministry deteriorates, and the pastor becomes increasingly frustrated. This ...
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