Ouch - on dealing with incompetence in the church

Ouch!

Not long ago we followed in a neighbouring parish a battle between the vicar and the organist / choirmaster. On paper the vicar was, of course, in charge of the parish, and had every right to sack the musician, but for complicated psychological reasons he felt compelled to minister to the man, to feed and clothe and shelter his incompetence, rather than to show him the door. We're told that it got to be so bad that there were loud arguments between the vicar and the musician during the worship service. After months of conflict, the vicar finally found it in himself to push the organist/choirmaster out the door.

It's fairly easy to tell when a musician is incompetent. People wince and cover their ears, and then they find a new church. Churches also employ clerks, administrators, and various specialty staff whose very job title is meaningless to the general public. We've been introduced to parish Lay Ministry Coordinators, Parish Missioners, Directors of Christian Formation, Liturgical Coordinators, Development Coordinators, and Webmasters. Beyond the parish level, there's a wealth of titles whose meaning sometimes eludes us. And if we can't tell what their job is supposed to be, then how ever can their job performance be evaluated effectively?

Terrible things seem to happen when church leaders project onto their staff their pastoral urge to take care of the needy, the downtrodden, and the weak. Nowhere in the parable of the sheep and the goats does it say 'I was incompetent and you employed me' or 'I was abusive to everyone but you didn't sack me'. The notion of charity seems altogether too often to be applied in church administration to charity towards one's own staff. For better or for worse, church organizations have more in common than not with ordinary business and government organizations. The secular world has it easier, in a sense, because the need to make a profit provides a means of telling quickly whether or not it is succeeding or failing. Churches can survive for decades under the stewardship of people who are pious, faithful, and incompetent, and no one benefits from that survival.

Guess where this is from, or read it all.  The original article is now archived here.

Uch

Comments

[Mrs. Falstaff]

You know, I don't think I'd be all that pleased with a bishop who got himself arrested in a political protest, myself...

[Tim]

How about a Saviour who got himself arrested for being a political threat?

[Leslie]

Didn't the politician find no fault in him?

___

The article is pretty direct, but raises interesting issues. If I'm reading right he's not so much talking about the quality of the piano playing as the situation that occurs when those in church leadership haven't spiritually reached the developmental phase of leadership yet?

I know of a church right now who selected their parish education board based on qualities of enthusiasm and invited them out of a wish for them to feel involved in the church. Terrific people...and it would have been fine if there were others on the committee with them to guide maybe but over the course of 3 years those experienced guides went off as the new ones were welcomed on. Now, after 3 years the church is about to embark on the tricky business of raising some pretty serious concerns about the Sunday School material that's been chosen (it's got great activities but doesn't believe the Bible is true).

The pastor is blocking all the concerns like a line backer to protect the committee members, but all that does is raise the pressure. What could have been fixed with a simple, "Maybe it's time to try another program", is heading for a showdown because of the pastor's desire to shield.

I understand why she's doing it, but turning a blind eye to keep the peace sometimes results in a big fat church war. Hopefully that is avoided in this case.

[steve the z]

I think Jesus started a church war as well as get arrested. Mind you it was because He didn't turn a blind eye that it created conflict.

[Mrs. Falstaff]

Tim...and your point is? My point was that I think our church is more concerned with political protest than spreading the Gospel....

[Tim]

In Romans 1:1-7 Paul says that the Gospel is 'Jesus is Lord'. Since there was already a politician in the ancient world who claimed the title 'Lord' - Caesar - I would argue that the Gospel by its very nature is a political protest. If it wasn't, why did the Romans spend all that time and energy persecuting Christians? It can't have been purely on the ground of Christian faith - Roman policy was religious toleration.

[cpm]

someone should forward this to every bishop in the Canadian church.

[Elizabeth]

I've been reading Edwin Friedman "A Failure of Nerve" subtitled "Leadership in the age of the quick fix." As I have been reading this, I've become more and more aware of how in the interest of something we understand as "Christian love and charity", we often fail to make the people who are behaving badly in our parishes accountable for their actions. Friedman explains how these wounded people can hold parishes hostage as congregatons tip toe around them so that they won't get upset. In our attempts to be compassionate and empathetic we ultimately fail to help them come to repentance and transformation....the very things we'e supposed to be about.

[joseph]

I think they touched a nerve on this one. When is being "loving" or "pastoral" not really helpful? Elizabeth, I think your last sentence captures quite a bit.

cpm - if every bishop had this, you and I would be out of work :^)