Lifeway Resources, not us at Life Way Ministries, Inc. but the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board's research and publishing arm, does a massive amount of research on church and pastoral issues. In a recent article, they noted that over 1300 Pastors were dismissed from SBC churches in 2005.
This is astounding and pitiful statistic that accompanies the research by Barna that also shows Christian divorce rates to be extremely high. A staff split is much like a marital split because the cause of almost every divorce is an inability to get along.
Top 15 Reasons for Church Staff Terminations
1. Control issues (who should run the church)
2. Poor people skills
3. Church's resistance to change
4. Pastor's leadership style (too strong)
5. Church was already conflicted when the pastor arrived
6. Decline in attendance and/or conditions
7. Pastor's leadership style (too weak)
8. Administrative incompetence on the part of the pastor
9. Sexual misconduct
10. Conflict with other staff
11. Ethical misconduct(mismanaged monies, dishonesty)
12. Disagreement over doctrine
13. Tenure (been at the church too long)
14. Rapid growth
15. Pastor vs. deacons*
15. Pastor's physical health*
15. Personal financial problems*
15. Poor work ethic (lazy)*
*Received an equal number of votes
Dear Reader, what kinds of common threads do you see?
No comments:
Post a Comment