From Work of the Church:  Getting the Job Done in Boards and Committees

Judson Press, 1987, p. 101

“The techniques offered in this book are only what that term implies—skills or methods by which something is accomplished. Because the church is a human organization, many of the methods of other human organizations apply to its work.  I suggest that church servants learn these skills well enough to act them out without calling attention to them.  When the methods of management become the primary focus of a church servant, however, these methods can become as much a hindrance to accomplishing work in the church as the lack of skills.  We know that teaching in the church requires the techniques discovered in secular education, but those techniques alone do not insure that the word of God is proclaimed in a classroom.  The teacher’s skills are integrated into the spiritual relationship with the students, and at best are only partially visible.  So it should be for the skilled administrator.”

From Hope in Conflict: Discovering Wisdom in Congregational Turmoil

Pilgrim Press, 2007, p. 24-25

“Valerie and Edwin Bradford were feeling very good about the state of their congregation and its pastor.  Antioch Presbyterian Church had a one-hundred year history of ministry in the center of their home city, and pastor Joe Freeman had arrived two years earlier to help the congregation make the transition from its historic ministry to a vibrant engagement with the needs of the immediate neighborhood.  In keeping with their family tradition, Valerie and Edwin had become Joe’s staunch supporters as he worked to revitalize the worship at Antioch and to create a homeless shelter, using grants and funding from many sources to remodel the church building into a hospitable place with a commercial kitchen, sleeping rooms, and bathing facilities. It was an exciting time to be part of Antioch Church!

Those good feelings turned to worries when they began hearing of a campaign of complaints about Pastor Freeman circulating among the congregation. People were angry that their church building was being taken over by the poorest and possibly most dangerous people in the neighborhood. They were also upset that the worship that had brought them such pride and comfort through the years had changed. Edwin and Valerie quickly met with Joe to find out how he was responding to these complaints. They discovered that he was angry and defiant, insisting that his vision is correct and adamant about his right to act out his vision as the pastor of Antioch Church.

Back home in their kitchen after meeting with Joe, the Bradfords struggled with their initial despair that their beloved church might be splintered by a destructive conflict. As young professionals they knew enough about how organizations work to recognize the danger.  As people of faith they were also aware that something more mysterious was at work here beneath the human drama.  They reminded each other that God would not be absent in this moment of crisis, but could , in fact, be working in and perhaps through the crisis in Antioch Church. That thought reassured them that the burden of this conflict did not rest solely on them nor indeed solely with the pastor. The congregation as a body was likely to have the resources and resilience to weather this storm and move forward in faith.  What they wanted was to prepare themselves, the pastor, and the other members to address this mystery with all the resources and resilience of their beloved congregation.”