Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church – year 2000 Page 217 Item 331}
One can see in this outline a flawless description of the role of the pastor to a congregation. The pastor, who is generally the person with the most training for ministry, has oversight of the congregation and all its activity. By this oversight he/she is not meant to do all the activity himself; nor is he meant to make all the decisions concerning this activity. Rather, he is meant to oversee and ensure that these decisions and the total ministry of the congregation by both ordained and lay ministry, is performed in compliance with the general beliefs and practices of the United Methodist Church at large.
This oversight of the congregation by the pastor makes way for the ministry of the Laity – another wonderful provision of GUIDELINES for the congregation through its local Church Council. The Church Council of a congregation is com-posed mainly of Lay people who are in positions of leadership in the various committees that together with the pastor, make up the Council. By way of seminars, workshops, and much printed material, training for these Lay Leaders is provided, mainly by the church at large.
The GUIDELINES booklet on CHURCH COUNCIL offers the basic training for Lay Leaders of the congregation. Its goal, among other things, wishes to train them as effective leaders. This it does effectively, to a point.
The result is we now have a congregation with a pastor trained as leader, and the chair of each committee trained as leader. Very little is said of how these leaders are to act and react together except to say that the Lay Leadership should keep in touch with the Pastor. This is vague and offers very little by way of allowing for the Pastor’s over-sight without treading on someone else’s turf, so to speak. Some mention is made of the jealousy of some ministers to guard their turf.
Overall, the leadership plans are good as far as they go. A mature congregation could make a real going concern using the guidelines offered. But – not all congregations are mature. What is it that makes a mature congregation? Mature, well informed people in charge of it, of course! It follows then that an immature congregation is inundated with some people including perhaps a minister occasionally who are ill-informed and/or immature in various ways.
These ill-informed and/or immature people and how they cause conflict in the local church will be the focus of this writing. It will also show how some of the conflicts are avoided or overcome, and some never are.
A subtitle of this book indicates it is mainly concerned with small to medium size churches. Large congregations generally have such a large assortment of mature leadership that the difficult people are outnumbered. Thus it has become a mature congregation. That doesn’t mean to say that all smaller or medium size congregations are immature. Far from it. There are many other factors that come into play here. However, most of the congregations that do have an excess of conflict are smaller and or medium in size, and cannot be regarded as mature congregations. And there are exceptions to every rule.
To begin with, let us examine some case studies of how some churches handle delicate situations without harmful conflict and some do not.
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A young minister with limited experience settled in as pastor of a congregation which some of its members regarded as a dying pastorate. The pastor was well received right at the start. Socially, the people of this medium size church were well cultured, mannerly people with whom the minister was well suited. Spiritually he was able to spark a renewed interest throughout the congregation and its history of more than a hundred years and then some. Obviously the people, among other good virtues, loved their church building, but not much work had been done on it in recent years. The pastor saw an opportunity in this.
At one of its earlier Board meetings, when there was an unplanned period of open, informal discussion, the pastor remarked, “You people have a historic church building here, and basically it is in good condition, and has the necessary facilities. Have you ever considered painting it up a little to make the sanctuary more cheerful and in keeping with our up-beat worship?”
There was dead-silence from the chairman. He appeared to be at a loss for words. The reaction of the others present was mixed but mostly positive. There were such remarks as, “We’ve never given it much thought.” “It’s a very high ceiling, high indeed. Can we do it with our limited finances?” A man with building experience responded, “Indeed we can do it. I myself would love to get at it, and a few other people with me who wouldn’t be nervous about the height.”
The interest grew throughout the community. Before long the interior of the sanctuary was renewed. Plans were forming to refurbish the exterior. The brick was in top condition, but the trim was in need of paint. The doors looked worn. The building already had outstanding stained glass windows that although generations old were well preserved. In the course of a few months an historic church was restored. Due to the ingenuity of the people, the financial cost was minimal. In addition, the congregation was infused with a renewed spirit.
During the process of the restoration, the Board chairman approached the Pastor one day. He told how glad he was to see the church of so many of their predecessors at last being rejuvenated. In a near to tears frame of mind he told the pastor how much it meant to him to see the old historic church of his forefathers being restored.
Then in words of remorse, he added, “As chairman of the board I should have had that all done some time ago, but I never gave it a thought that we could do it. “The pastor apologetically replied, “But I never meant to usurp you or interfere with your position on the Board.” “Don’t apologize,” the chairman requested, “I support you all the way.”
This man, instead of feeling hurt, or miffed or deflated, or with damaged pride, was very pleased and happy about it. The project didn’t have to be to his credit. The church he loved was being renewed. Both the minister and the chairman and the whole board gave God the credit for moving them. No other credit was needed. He and that pastor remained life-long friends. Meanwhile, the chairman gave extra support through his giving of extra gifts of materials, at personal expense, to put the finishing touches here and there on the work of restoration.
What could have happened to the project, and to the congregation, if the chairman had not been the mature man that he was, can only be speculated upon. He could have guarded his position in the church as his turf, defied the minister who had not the slightest notion of encroaching on the turf of another. He could have divided the congregation on the issue. Instead, he helped to promote the whole idea, thus bringing unity to the community. He was a mature person, seeking to promote his church instead of himself.
From that time on, the congregation capitalized on its historicity, and the image it gave them. But that didn’t cause them to dwell too much upon ‘old times’ as some such churches do. Their congregational programs for people of all ages are up there with the best of the more modern progressive churches
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A young business oriented man and his wife, set up business in a town where they were known and largely respected. Things were going well for them. Being inclined towards their Christian faith they began attending church services and some other events as they gradually became more involved. In time the minister cooled towards them. This, in contrast to the fact that most other people solidly accepted them.
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