Pastor Resigns:  “I Was Wrong”

Orginally published on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 7:08 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Ronald Keener writes, "No pastor takes on leading a congregation with the thought that, five years later, he may tearfully be giving an apology for his “arrogance” and hurtful treatment of members — never thinking that he might repeatedly tell the church on his last Sunday before them that “I was wrong.”

But that’s what happened at a megachurch in the Phoenix area on the fourth Sunday of June. This pastor, who had been an executive pastor previously at a Texas church, admitted that in attempting to bring about change he had been insensitive to people, resistant to counsel, and caused an erosion of trust between him and those he led that couldn’t be repaired. He “offended” and “disrespected” individuals.

He told the church that he came to agree with the unified assessment of the elders that the erosion of trust prevented him from leading the church into the future, and he resigned.

Ron continues… This was a matter not of moral failure, not even one of personality, but one of character, the elders said. And when it is a fault of character, sin is involved. “We can’t excuse some of the kinds of things that hurt people,” one elder said in a later information session. Pride is a character flaw, a sin issue, and can’t be ignored in a leader. An elder said that the church may have lost 1,000 people during the pastor’s tenure.

The church itself had its 40th anniversary this year. For many over the years it was “the church to belong to,” an early nondenominational church where people of position in the community would affiliate.

To some in the church the decision of the elders came quickly, but in fact, the counseling with the pastor for his restoration and change had been ongoing for a couple years. The elders attempted to resolve the pastor’s blind spots and bring him into a stronger working relationship with staff and members.

Instead matters got worse in what was an atmosphere of staff “not being led but driven.” Individual cases arose that were reported, investigated and attempted to be resolved, only to reoccur. Matthew 18 processes were used. Change itself wasn’t at issue, the elders say, and in fact a strategic plan has been developed over the past year with an outside consultant and will be announced in August.

But the issue with the pastor was the way change was enacted as opposed to the needed change itself being made.

What can be learned from this one tragic situation of high expectations, but dashed hopes? A few points that might be deduced:

--Temperament matters, and many books and seminars are sold on anger management. Temperament is a character flaw and when it spills out on other people needlessly, it is a sin issue.

--One wonders if this pastor didn’t bring much of his anger and arrogance from his previous position. Churches are as reluctant as any other organization to tell the truth about a candidate. Was this individual’s senior pastor happy to lose him and thus fudged on the truth when asked for a reference?

--Elder boards should make every effort to resolve the issues with the individual, and this board apparently went beyond the minimum required. That’s to their credit even if they couldn’t talk about it earlier in the process.

--After firing two pastors in six years, this elder board can’t afford to make a mistake the next time, even as they talk about matching a teaching pastor with a directional leader. 

--Lastly, there is an authoritarian streak that runs in many pastors and leaders of churches, ministries and agencies. Few of them seek out coaches or disinterested individuals who can help them look at themselves and find help.

Does this pastor have a future in the church? Yes, surely he does. After a period of self-examination and recovery, he can probably bring skills and understanding to a congregation to a higher degree than he might have before. If a Ted Haggard can aspire to ministry again (in whatever form) through a restoration process, so can this pastor.

His heart for the church is in the right place, even if his methods were not. He can be made to see again and overcome his blind spots. His passion and vision for the church are needed, and all in too short supply in Christ’s church. Ministry is hard work, but sometimes we make it harder than it needs to be when we come to it with our own heavy baggage.

Ron is a writer for Church Executive Magazine.  You can read more here.

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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

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