Adler Ministry Group: Blog

In my 30 years of ministry, I have found that the greatest difference between our world of the local church and that of the business world is how we actually carry out the "letting go" of a staff member. It seems to be a much straighter line between the ultimate decision and the ultimate action in a secular environment, where pink slips and cleaning out your desk are just matters of course. The difficulty (blessing) for us as church leaders is the great responsibility of stewardship to ALL of God's people. I've seen church leadership walk a circuitous path around a staff member for years before finally making the right decision to help them move on, just because the leadership wanted to err toward grace and mercy. The truth is that seasons in the local church change. Needs evolve over time and the organic ebb and flow of church activity is seldom static. What a staff member brought to the table by way of skills five years ago may have been for just that season of the church. It is poor stewardship to both the church and to the staff person who has been unsuccessfully reaching above their heads to continue on in that relationship. 
The lesson for us all is to not only choose wisely but to manage well. Do all you can to create an atmosphere in which your chosen staff members can perform to their utmost and then be willing to shuffle the deck as you steer your ship into the next generation. 
www.slingshotgroup.net