HOME | CONTRIBUTE A STORY! | ABOUT MMI | CATEGORIES OF INTEREST | CONTACT ME


image

Church Pink Slips

Orginally published on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 7:47 AM
by Todd Rhoades


According to an article at Christianity Today, twenty percent of 800 church leaders who responded to an online survey by the Texas-based National Association of Church Business Administration reported in February that they had laid off staff. Complicating the issue for the laid off church employees is the fact that most churches do not pay unemployment taxes, which means that many unemployed church workers to not qualify for unemployment...

Here a bit more from the article, which I found interesting:

But in tough times, should the church or ministry reciprocate that dedication to the cause by keeping staff employed?

“A ministry’s mission is not to employ people; it is to serve a cause or constituency,” said Jim West, managing partner of the Orange County, California-based Barnabas Group, an organization for Christian leaders.

The church’s mission must be to introduce people to Jesus in such a way that the entire community is changed, said Tim Stevens, [the executive pastor at Granger Community Church]. That can’t happen, he said, if the church loses its integrity by failing to pay its bills.

“It will be a sad day when the mission of the church is reduced to keeping people employed,” added the executive pastor, whose congregation gave laid-off staff members three months of severance and benefits and hired a career transition coach to help them find jobs.

What do you think?  You can read the whole article here...

Is your church laying people off?

Have YOU been laid off?


This post has been viewed 465 times so far.


  There are 6 Comments:

  • Posted by

    My past church laid me off giving me the reason totally because of the “economy”. No severance and no unemployment after 5 years of service there (an additional 15 elsewhere) and after moving us cross country. Getting laid off stinks, but being told to not to attend there anymore in that “house of God” was absolutely stupid. What really hurt was we could afford the house we bought at the time (very affordable), but with almost 18% unemployment in the area there, and not able to find work locally in time, we lost our house as well. I’m somewhat amazed they didn’t offer to go fulltime to parttime (which would have worked), or everyone on staff considering a slight paycut. Instead, as soon as I left the Sr Pastor increased his salary by $30k. Go figure....my town is not the only area affected either. My story is too common righ now in these times.

    btw, the same church now is in serious debt and more staff are on the chopping block. I don’t blame it on the economy. I blame it on irresponsible people making poor decisions. Worldview calls is greed. Godview calls is non-accountability.

    *note - We’re now being considered by a number of churches out of state. God always seems to work things out, doesn’t He? That trust thing works people!

  • Posted by russell kilbane

    My heart goes out to every servant of God who has to go through the transition back to uncompensated ministry. I know it must be hard and seems like a step backward. But on the other hand, I suggest that from a “20 stories up” point of view the shift of ministers out from the ivory towers of churchdome to the harvest fields of the Kingdom is a good thing. The pastors quoted above are right. We need to ask ourselves some serious questions about how and whom we are serving when we start using career lingo to describe the call of God to serve His people.

    Is it just me or does anyone else think the pattern of ministry regarding compensation was based on corperate capabilies in the NT. The apostle Paul who in 1 Ti 5:17 emphasizes the worthiness of elders for compensation is the same one who instructs the Ephesian elders that giving is better than receiving in Acts 20:35.

    The defining question is, “in light of what a church is capable of, what would bring God the most glory in this situation?”

  • Posted by

    What do I think?  I think that churches that do not pay into unemployment are being penny-wise and pound foolish.  It’s hard enough for a church which is “supposed” to care for people to lay off staff without the added burden of not having provided a safety net for them.

  • Posted by Todd Stafford

    I was laid off a year ago.  I’m driving school bus full time (42 to 50 hours a week) and still serving 20 to 30 hours a week at the church. It stinks, but I know God called me to be a part of this body, and as long as I can pull it off, I’ll continue to serve.

  • Posted by Bill Reichart

    Yep, I got laid off in November.  The church helped with 4 months of severance/with full benefits and gave me a 30 day notice leading up to the day of termination...so I can’t complain, the church and leadership treated me with honor and cared for my family.

    But I did learn a lot about facing transition.  Yes, it was an eye opener for me and for the church, when I found out that I wouldn’t be eligible for unemployment benefits.  Also, the big challenge for people in the church world, is that it takes longer to find another position within a church.  Churches usually take longer in their hiring process.

    Also, the other issue when let go from a church is that it isn’t like losing just another job.  If I was in the marketplace, except for feeling the loss of income, my family wouldn’t feel deeply or be deeply impacted if I moved from one employer to another.  But in a church, especially having been a pastor, my whole family was a part of where I “worked”.  My wife was involved in ministry and serving.  My kids were involved in the youth ministry...in a church it isn’t about just cleaning out an office - it affects the family because the family is integrated in the church.  One’s work and family are significantly integrated.

    These are tough times, and I have had other minister friends loose their jobs as well.  I have learned a lot of new skills during this transition and I also now experience a deep compassion for many of my neighbors and friends going through this as well.

    The good news for me is that God provided a ministry opportunity starting the very next day my severance ended...and I’ve been able to see God’s hand in it all...believing that God had to dynamite and launch me out of my asst, pastor ministry position in order to lead and place me in this new opportunity - which is a great opportunity.

    But I could have never discovered this new opportunity that God wanted for me unless I was laid off.

  • Posted by Billy Cox

    The church I attend recently laid off three staff, one full-time and two at various levels of part-time. Bad economy, yes...but the severance pay had barely stopped flowing when the church hired a new full-time staff pastor.

    It was a very thin whitewash over the fact that the laid off staff were either under-performing or the job had changed and they had not.

    Perhaps it is relevant to point out that all three laid-off staff members are now employed, but not in a local church.

  • Page 1 of 1 pages

Post Your Comments:

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Live Comment Preview:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please enter the word you see in the image below: