Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration by James D. Berkley

Author:James D. Berkley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL108030
ISBN: 978-1-4412-0091-4
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

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Mediating Disputes

In interactions between pastors and staff members, major areas of conflict can surface: generational differences, theological disagreements, preoccupations with power and control, or hierarchical structures that don’t allow for both accountability and freedom to minister. Yet foundational to most staff disputes is some form of miscommunication.

Maintaining Communication

“All conflicts are communication problems” may be a bit overstated, but miscommunication certainly accounts for its share of conflict. For example, we all know staff members who burn with vision as they begin their new vocations, not understanding they were hired simply to perform certain tasks. While the pastor sits in the church office wondering why staff members can’t settle into their responsibilities, the staff members are frustrated trying to reconcile cleaning the kitchen with the ministry they envisioned.

Honesty is the critical element here. We probably should worry more about potential staff members understanding what we expect of them than trying to make sure they like it. Perhaps we suffer from homiletic hangover, but it’s easy to make a staff position sound greater than it is. That may help in recruitment, but it leads to trouble in the long run.

Daily miscommunications—not sending the right information or the same wrong information—create the same potential for conflict. Working together effectively requires lots of talking to one another. We need to ask questions; use memos galore; make sure people understand what is going on, especially when it will affect something in their field of ministry, no matter how distantly.

Miscommunication can also be negated by behavioral loyalty. One staff pastor, for instance, tries to do things his pastor cares about deeply, even though they matter little to him, such as picking up a gum wrapper on the carpet. He likens it to bringing his wife flowers. Likewise, supervisors need to find ways to visibly demonstrate love and support, such as writing a note of thanks or offering to take care of some busywork we weren’t asked to handle. It will cover a multitude of miscommunications.

Strengthening Relationships

Key terms in disarming conflict are respect, understanding, freedom, submission, deference, honesty, and openness. These words describe personal relationships, not institutional systems. Management systems don’t create destructive conflicts; people do. Where conflict destroys ministry, you can be sure that relationships have deteriorated. Preventing deterioration requires maintenance.

Relationships must stay familial. It is easy to let ministry relationships slip into mere professionalism. Yet, the most productive staff relationships happen where love is expressed in personal friendship. For example, I’ll never forget the morning my pastor came by on his way to the office to sit and talk with my wife and me after our apartment had been burglarized.

Relationships must remain supportive. If our goal is to minister to people and extend the kingdom, we must work at encouraging one another. Will a staff member support the pastor, even if the pastor opts for a different action than the staff member suggested? Will the pastor care about helping a disappointed staff member continue on?

Relationships must keep maturing. Being a minister means saying more than just the things others want to hear.

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