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A New Direction Doesn't Have to Mean a New Minister

New Direction

Elders’ jobs are not easy, especially when it comes to letting go of a minister. Elders have the responsibility of caring for every soul in their congregation, and sometimes it is necessary for them to have that difficult conversation with a minister when he is leading these people astray through his teaching or conduct or when his work is simply not contributing to the members’ spiritual growth. There are justifiable reasons for an eldership to let go of their minister, and sometimes it is in the congregation’s best interest for them to do so.

What an eldership needs to be sure of, though, is that there actually is a good reason that it is not in the congregation’s best interest to keep their current minister. For the majority of the ministers who contact us after having their emplyment terminated, this is unfortunately not the case. From our experience, the most common reason for a minister’s termination, at least for pulpit ministers, is not unsound teaching, immorality, or even ineffectiveness. It is just that the elders decided on “a new direction” for the congregation. What does that even mean?

It is not like these ministers are incompetent at their jobs. Many of these ministers have a great track record with the congregations they’ve worked with, and their resumes are quite impressive. Many of them have been at their congregations for years and have brought many people to Christ. They have a good reputation throughout the brotherhood of being effective evangelists and being able to preach biblical and relevant sermons. The reason for the “new direction” is definitely not a matter of the minister’s ability to work effectively with a congregation, so why is it that a congregation would let go of a good minister?

In many cases, this happens when a new eldership is installed. Keeping the same position through multiple elderships is considered an accomplishment among ministers. They know that if the new eldership disagrees with something about their ministry, their positions could be in danger. I have even heard it suggested that the first thing a minister should do when a new eldership takes over is to resign and reapply.

With new leadership obviously comes a new vision, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is time to clean house with your ministry team. A minister understands that a new eldership is going to change some things about his or her ministry. No rational person goes into ministry thinking that they will agree with every decision an eldership makes. They go into it with the understanding that they will be subject to the elders’ decisions just as any other member of the congregation. They go into it knowing that they are part of a team and that they may have to find some common ground with the elders and other ministers so that they can work effectively together.

It seems many elderships skip the process of trying to work with the minister and jump to letting him go. What kind of message does it send to a congregation when the eldership suddenly lets go of their minister without any apparent cause? Wouldn’t it be better to see if there is any way the elders and minister can work together despite their differences? A group of elders has to do this even within themselves to decide on a new vision for the congregation since chances are they all have different opinions about it. We all have to set aside our differences and find some common ground in order to work together as one body in Christ.

If elderships would take some time to work with their ministers after deciding on a “new direction,” whatever it may be, I think they would find that most of their ministers are not incompatible with that new direction. Your ministers are there because they love the church, and if given the chance, they would be willing to see how they could work together under the new leadership to continue to further the overall mission of the church however they can.

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Minister Match helped us hire a new minister in half the time we took for our previous hire.  We used the Minister Match process which helped us build a consensus of what we wanted.  Minister Match's network then helped us to build an ...
Tom Long - Search Committee Chairman, South Fork Church of Christ
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Clay Tidwell
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Jon Bouley - Family Minister Search Committee Chairman, Mesa Church of Christ
The Minister Match team was very professional. The entire process was very transparent. It was structured and organized, which made it a whole lot easier. I felt that the team also had a genuine concern for the Lord's church and His ministers. ...
Joshua Duboise - Family Minister, Mesa Church of Christ
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Brandon Clark - Youth Minister Search Committee Chairman, Mesa Church of Christ
We had a very good experience with Minister Match.  This was not the first time we had searched for a minister, but it was the first time we used a search firm.  Our experience with Minister Match was a complete success.  In previous searches, we ...
Jim Holway - Minister, Sunset Church of Christ
The process was well marketed and we were provided ample information to help explain the steps to the congregation.  The book that accompanied the information was very valuable and I referred to it often during the process.  As the search team ...
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Bob Perkins - Elder, Sunset Church of Christ
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ABC Blocks

Your congregation has just hired a minister, and it seems like they are the perfect fit. Congratulations! There is one more step to the process, though, and it is just as important as the process of finding the right minister. You might have heard people refer to how the “first hundred days” of someone’s job usually sets the tone for their entire career with that organization. The same is true with ministers. Just as your congregation is going through a major transition, so is your new minister. The first few months of a job are a stressful time, and it is the job of the elders and search committee to help your new minister through their transition.

We refer to this as the “On-Boarding Stage.” Since the “first hundred days” is so important to the rest of a minister’s career with your congregation, we believe this stage is one of the keys to reducing minister turnover in the church. In this post, we want to talk about a few of the things that a new minister needs from their congregation during this transition period. We will refer to them as the ABC’s of the On-Boarding Phase.