Podcast Episode #176
SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio • Google Play
Today we answer a few listener questions. As always, you can submit your questions on the podcast page.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
- Pastors who lead after a church splits need a long-term view.
- Discipleship is the act of becoming more like Christ.
- The gospel is all about reconciliation.
- When pastoring after a split, be prepared to give a great deal of pastoral care.
- Behavior which harms the body of Christ should be confronted and reconciliation should be the goal.
The listener questions we answer this week are:
Kevin:
What advice would you give to a new minister of a recently split church as he assumes the pastoral responsibility of the remaining portion of the original congregation?
Aaron:
I’m a 22 year old pastor and I hear over and over again the importance of discipleship. I know what it is, I know what it means, but I don’t know how to do it. Where do I start? Do you have resources that you recommend for helping me to start disciplining?
Jefferson:
As the Church, what role should we play in dealing with racism, especially when a church is multicultural? Do we have a responsibility to help bring reconciliation?
Janet:
Do you believe it is true that we/the church cannot address bad behavior among our members because they are volunteers and not employees? How can we begin to change to culture of the church back to healthy accountability?
John:
Why are so many Christians silent in churches when a church bully(ies) are dishing out their abuse? How do they understand what it means to show Christ like love?
Stephen:
My church’s membership is growing smaller and older. Most members don’t understand or use social media. They don’t focus well on planning, delegation, goal-setting, establishment of timetables or deadlines. Financially strapped, they focus on prayer at THE solution while waiting for divine intervention to send them the money and the members they desperately need. However, I believe that God wants them to roll up their shirtsleeves nd do something besides praying and waiting.
Todd:
I have been in ministry for two decades now. I have served in children’s, youth, college, young adult, interim, and missions roles. I was also a senior pastor for a year. I left that pastorate feeling led into church planting. That journey led me to eventually being part of a team and assisting another lead planter for a season. Towards the end of the time in that role I started looking for a full time job in the ministry again. I have been looking for almost three years now. Discouragement has been difficult at times. I have heard from some churches but not many. I am unsure where to turn or what to do at this point. I have had my resume listed with the state conventions in several states as well as directly contacted a number of DOM’s in an area where my wife and I might like to live. My question is what can and should I do at this point? I feel stuck in a secular job, where I work as hard as I can, but I do not feel fulfilled in. And at times I worry some of my most productive years are being wasted outside of ministry.
Episode Sponsors
Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped hundreds of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church. Find out more about Vanderbloemen Search Group by visiting WeStaffTheChurch.com.
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is a dynamic community of learners who are serious about ministry preparation biblical studies theological reflection and cultural engagement. Their faculty are gifted men and women who minister as much through research and writing as through local church involvement but their primary ministry is teaching and caring for students. Find out more about TEDS at Divinity.TIU.edu.
Feedback
If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of I Will.
I was elected pastor of a church that split because of accusations of misappropriating funds. The pastor who took over after the split resigned because of rumors that he would never handle the finances or have a say so. What are ways to help congregants get over that spirit of “division”?
I’ve been a pastor for 20 years, so here’s my two cents’ worth (no pun intended). The pastor should NEVER handle the church’s money or bank accounts. I know that sounds overly strict, but believe me, it’s a wise policy. If any financial malfeasance takes place, the pastor becomes the first suspect. If you keep your hands off the church’s accounts and books, you can easily absolve yourself from all blame. The only part of the church’s money the pastor should handle is his own paycheck.
On the other hand, the pastor should have a say-so in how the church’s money is spent. One way he can do that is to ask that he be allowed to serve ex officio (I.e., by privilege of office) on all church committees, including the finance committee. That gives the pastor direct input on how the money is spent without giving him any direct control of the money itself. If a church can’t agree to that much, I’d have to say they are too cynical and will probably cause the pastor a great deal of trouble.
Every church is different, and even church splits take many forms. Thus, I don’t think there is one single solution for dealing with it. That being said, I would give these words of caution to any pastor. First, choose your battles wisely. Some battles need to be fought, but others do not. Second, some battles are not winnable, and it’s no disgrace for the pastor to face that fact.
For more on this subject, I highly recommend a book called “Leading Your Church Through Conflict and Resolution”, edited by Marshall Shelley. It contains chapters on different subjects by different authors. I especially recommend the chapter on “Wars You Can’t Win”, by Andre Bustanoby. He gives some helpful guidelines on how to tell the difference between winnable and unwinnable battles.
Good stuff. Thanks, Ken.
Thanks for the compliment! One other question I would consider is, who caused the split? Was it the ones that left, or the ones that remain? Sometimes it’s both, and sometimes it’s neither. My sister went to work for a church that had recently been through a split. They assured her the split was amicable, but after she’d been there a short while, she found out differently. To make a long story short, the pastor was a large part of the problem.
I have a question, which being answered would greatly be appreciated. My question invloves the topic on divorce.
Thanks,
Al Shine
In my experience, most Church Splits are not as much over Doctrine, which does divide, albeit right or wrong doctrine!!! Church or deacon lead Churches often result in Splits and also when there is not a genuine plurality of elders with a point or lead elder!!! In most cases what it amounts to is a power struggle!!!
Enjoyed this podcast and I especially love the ones with reader/listener questions.
On the topic of racial reconciliation:
I believe that racial recon. should be taught in churches in a beneficial and scriptural manner. Since that is a topic of the times, the church should address it as the need arises (some churches/geographical locations need more of it). However, It should be a topic that needs prayerful planning, oversight and wisdom when it is addressed.
One of my closest friends moved to a large city in the South and found a growing, deliberately multi-cultural, evangelical church to attend. He “plugged in” to the church and not only attended services, but small groups. In a casual conversation some months later, He told me he had to leave that church. I asked why and his response surprised me. He said that the church was OVERLY focused on racial reconciliation. From the pulpit to the small groups, the topic came up ad nauseam. My buddy is an African American and said that even though its important topic, it can’t be all we talk about. He quipped that a few of the leaders in the small group were Caucasian and the lessons started coming across as uncomfortable and not genuine.
Often in church life, we can get wrapped up in a topic because its popular, culturally “relevant” and uses all the buzzwords, but yet not hit the mark and drive away those we try to disciple.