Q. Getting rid of a pastor can cause a lot of conflict. What should be happening for both the pastor and other church leaders and members when everyone is figuring out if the pastor should be let go? How should a church let a pastor go?
A. It depends (typical lawyer answer, eh?) …
- Is your pastor a “hired-hand” (see John 10:12-13) or a servant-shepherd ready to lay down his life for God’s sheep?
- Is the tradition and history of the church to hire a man to lead by fulfilling a “position description” or is the attitude of everyone (pastor, leaders, and members) reflective of “calling” only God’s chosen under-shepherd who through supernatural spiritual gifting humbly models Christ by imitating His sacrifice?
- Is your pastor one who curries favor with people or one who pushes forward Christ and the Holy Spirit’s agenda while making nothing of himself?
- Do people of the church want a pastor who is popular by the world’s standards or one who is poor in spirit (MT 5:3), one who mourns (MT 5:4), one who is meek (MT 5:5), one whose hunger and thirst is for righteousness (MT 5:6), one who is merciful (MT 5:7), one who is pure of heart (MT 5:8), one who is a peacemaker (MT 5:9), and one willing to accept persecution because of righteousness (MT 5:10)?
- Has the church “filled the pulpit” with an appealing and clever orator or a man of godly character who is qualified as one who is above reproach, husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, a model manager of his own family, and one who has a good reputation with those outside the church (1 Timothy 3:2-7)?
- Is your pastor displaying evidence of the influence and fruit of this world (loud, pushing his agenda, seeking man’s approval, demanding his way, proud, arrogant, etc.) or the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)?
If your pastor, and the people of your church, are predominantly described by any of the characteristics and/or descriptive statements appearing before the word “or” in the above questions you most probably have a mere hired-hand for a pastor. Firing a hired-hand is no different than firing any other person holding a secular job: you must be knowledgeable of and comply with your state’s statues and laws concerning employment to avoid a charge of “wrongful termination.” It will mean dotting all of the “i’s” and crossing all of the “t’s” of procedure dictated by legally-mandated due process considerations. And, it will mean “managing church conflict” among those who will be driven by worldly expectations and sentiments akin to those experienced when the best player on the local high school sport’s teams is benched because he or she is failing academically (howls of indignant outrage). But the church will get through it even though some people may leave. That won’t be the concern in such a church because the focus will be merely on answering the question, “Who can we hire into the position next?”
But …
If you have a servant-shepherd pastor, and the people of your church are characterized by the statements following the word “or” above, then you have an entirely different situation … an entirely different problem. That discussion comes, Lord willing, next week in “How to Fire Your Pastor — Part 2.”
-Dave Edling
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Please see the linked article in my current post. Of course, caring for a person fired from their employment is governed by certain requirements of most state laws (continuing access to health insurance under Cobra, for example), but being a fellow believer should also mean that access to spiritual care is offered, even if the pastor was best characterized as a mere “hired-hand” and had lost passport as a shepherd. Frequently, a pastor acting more like a hired-hand then a true shepherd has done so because the congregation has only desired a hired-hand and not someone who who will engage them at a deeper level. Members of the church should examine themselves in such a case and learn more about what it means to “call” a man to ministry.
There is no one “right” answer to your question because every situation differs. May God give you wisdom if your question reveals a situation you are presently dealing with.
In the Lamb,
Dave
Pastor Dave,
While I am waiting in great anticipation on how to fire my Pastor more importantly I am waiting to see how your trout whisle is fairing:)
Not a day goes bye that I don’t give the Lord thanks for you and what you did for me on the front lawns of our homes. Thank you for leading me to the Lord, He has and continues to change my life. All my best to the Edlings.
Dave P. 760/497/0781
Brother David,
Thank you for your comment and remembering how close we were in days past. Only on the Bighorn River in Montana does the trout whistle really produce! Blessings to you for the support and friendship you have shared with me.
Dave