Posted in Church Staff

When A Backward or Lateral Move Is Okay

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Church staff members aren’t exempt from a ladder-climbing mentality. We’re not exempt from wanting more pay or recognition. We’re not exempt, but we can’t allow that mentality to drive our decisions.

As a Christian, and one whom has fully given your life’s vocation to Christ, you must pursue and prioritize that calling first, and above all else.

While living in Texas, I served a great church as Executive Pastor. However, I felt like God had a different church for me to serve. The opportunity God presented was a church in Nashville that already had an executive pastor. So, what was I to do? (Stage a coup, perhaps?)

The church did, however, want to offer me the role of “Associate Executive Pastor.” It was an executive pastor, but not THE Executive Pastor. Was I okay with the demotion? Was I going to be okay not only being a second-chair leader to the Senior Pastor, but also to the Executive Pastor?

When people asked about the new position I was leaving for, would I be okay with verbally inserting “associate” before the rest of my title?

There may be times in your ministry when God calls you to be in a place or position that seems like a step backwards, or sideways. It could mean less title, less money, less authority, and less recognition.

Sometimes it’s clearly a demotion of sorts. Other times, it may just seem that way. But either way, you’ll have to decide on the front-end if you can deal with it.

When I was making my decision, it helped me to realize that pursuing the call and position God provided me is never a demotion. I had no idea what God would allow me to do as Associate Executive Pastor. I couldn’t understand the value I’d gain in the “associate” role, and I didn’t understand how the role would unfold over time.

If you’re ever in this situation, here are a few reminders about when a lateral or backwards move might make sense:

When you feel God telling you to do it
When it’s best for your church
When you’ve got more to learn
When a new supervisor could help you develop
When it gives you the best opportunity for the long-term direction you want to go

When you feel God telling you to do it – God is sovereign over your ministry career-path. Don’t fight it.

When it’s best for your church – There could be short or long seasons when your taking a different or lesser role is best for the church. It could positively impact other staff, or be a healthy financial adjustments for the church. Many people avoid these moves, by moving away from the church. In some situations that may be what needs to happen, but consider first what’s best for the church you serve.

When you’ve got more to learn – This was true for me. The associate position put me in a place to learn a lot more about the role. I wasn’t prepared to lead in THE executive pastor role. I benefitted from first learning more.

When a new supervisor could help you develop/make you happier – A move laterally or backwards could put you in an excellent seat to learn from another person. A change in scenery, a change in reporting, can give you a new perception. This was true for me. I benefitted significantly from the Executive Pastor. I wouldn’t trade that learning opportunity to have had his seat at the time.

When it gives you the best opportunity for the long-term direction you want to go – God may or may not reveal this to you on the front-end, but sometimes a pause in the ladder-climbing allows you the greatest opportunity to get where God desires you to be (and rings true with your understanding of your calling).

p.s. I’m quite confident eternity will not include name plates, business cards, org charts or résumés.

Threatened By (the talent) Another Minister

There’s a danger when you hire someone to work alongside you. The danger increases when they have similar responsibilities to you or they report to you. And the danger is even greater when the person is talented.

The danger: their work or they themselves get more attention than you do.

What happens if their talent overshadows yours?
What if their influence is greater than yours?
What if church members or staff like them better than they like you?
What if their work becomes a huge win for the church?

I’ve recently welcomed this threat. We’ve added an Executive Pastor to our staff. He comes with his own experiences, gifts, and skill sets. And more than that, I work with a bunch of talented and smart people. (Seemingly, when the Holy Spirit was providing gifts to those I work with, He was feeling generous. Somehow when it became my turn to receive gifts, He all the sudden became a minimalist!)

You can be threatened by those around you who are capable leaders, or you can embrace what they bring to your church and figure out how to best serve, together.

It’s the Education Minister who hires a new student minister. The student minister is not only younger, more fun, but also really Biblically astute. Does the Education Minsters celebrate this, or does he make sure the influencers in the church also know about the new guy’s shortcomings?

It’s the Music Minister who has effectively led worship for many years, but organically, a vocalist from the praise team seems to be getting the attention. His voice and worship of God are clearly impressive. How does the Music Minister react?

Many times this threat plays out in the hiring process. The hiring minister foregoes a qualified candidate because they can see how that person might out-perform or get more accolades. It’s poor Kingdom management, but it happens.

Biblically, we know how we should respond.

Theoretically, we know we’re better together, even if we feel marginalized in that pursuit.

But methodologically, we often handle it differently. And sometimes sinfully.

We try to relegate these high achievers to small work so they can’t be noticed. We don’t encourage them or brag on them in front of others. We remind others of their weaknesses. We’re constantly looking for errors they may make.

Some practical reminders for when you feel threatened by the talent around you:

Pray for them.
Don’t worry about image management. Let the God who put you in your position, and them in theirs, deal with how others perceive you.
Get to know them really well. It’s harder to be threatened by someone you know well, and actually, perhaps like. (I’ve written about church jealousy syndrome previously).
Acknowledge your weaknesses, know theirs, and then develop a plan (with them) for how you can each excel in your giftedness and mitigate each other’s weaknesses through mutual cooperation.
Memorize and put into practice Ephesians 4:29 and then adhere to it when speaking about them.

Remedying Bad Meetings

There’s a lot of leadership talk about minimizing meetings. People “loathe” them and church staffs are not immune to this sentiment. I contend those who loathe them are used to bad meetings, but meetings can be good. If maximized, they can produce far greater results than an email or individual “offline” meetings ever can.

But, it’s got to be a good meeting.

I’m pro-meeting. Well, I’m pro-good meeting. If your staff culture already has a meeting avoidance attitude, you’ll have to earn your right with good meetings. Here are some tips:

1. Use meetings for strategic discussions and email for operational items

Many operational items can be accomplished through email. So use that tool. But my experience says strategic discussions happen best in group settings. Collaborative thinking is a key ingredient to well thought out strategy.

2. Allow for margin between meetings

Some days I stack meeting upon meeting, which is poor time management and it means I’m not at my best for my next meeting. Space between meetings allows you to recalibrate, review your upcoming agenda, record output from previous meeting (a key follow-up for meetings you lead) and even check a few emails to make sure you can stay focused in your next meeting.

3. Respect the beginning time and ending time

I’ve blogged on this more than once. Speed of the leader, speed of the team. You owe it the meeting’s content and the people you’re involving to watch this time issue closely. You not only need to be mindful of promptness yourself, but hold those accountable who don’t respect it.

4. Include prayer

Sometimes prayer at the beginning is what is needed. Other times prayer at the end. But don’t hesitate to schedule prayer time during the meeting. Corporate prayer is a powerful thing. And when you’ve created space for it, it shows how much you value it.

5. Be prepared

When someone comes to a meeting you’re leading, a goal worth having is them thinking, “Wow, they were prepared.” That means documents were ready, you had given thought to the topic, and you have an objective for the meeting. If you don’t prove the meeting is important you, they won’t find it important either.

6. Make sure everyone knows their role

Are they there to receive assignments? Give input? A voter in a consensus decision? I feel much better about attending a meeting when I know what’s expected of me. If I know what’s expected, I can be prepared and also not be let down when I find out they have a role for me in the meeting other than what I was expecting.

7. Know when to cancel a meeting

Many meetings will be on a routine schedule, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be cancelled. When the agenda doesn’t call for an in-person meeting, cancel it.

8. Use the meeting to make your staff better

Consciously plan meeting content to develop those attending. This has been modeled well for me in the past and in many of my meetings, I plan portions of the meeting for teaching opportunities. We’re not doing “trust falls” every meeting, but I hope most of my meetings provide those in attendance to be a little more effective in their roles.

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