Maintaining Church staff morale
It is one thing to minister in a church where it becomes possible to employ additional staff, it is another thing to maintain a high staff morale once the number of paid people for each congregation increases. The first involves the skills of church growth, the second involves the skills of church management. Neither are taught as a major item in most Bible colleges and seminaries, yet both are necessary skills for a growing an effective ministry.
For fifty years, I have been privileged to have always been part of a team ministry. From my first year as a student preacher, when I added to my staff a paid secretary and then a paid youth worker, to the days when I had ten and fifteen staff in one church to the time when I had two hundred staff finishing twenty seven years later with 4,600 paid employees in Australia’s largest ministry of any one church, I have faced the issue of maintaining staff morale.
Usually the best investment is to first appoint competent volunteers then a paid part time secretary which releases the pastor to do more efficiently what he has been trained to do. Then other staff can be added along with more unpaid volunteers.
In my experience six problems lower staff morale, and their solutions are quite clear.
1. No clear job description.
As good fences make for good neighbours, so a good job delineation prevents many conflicts arising. One pastor I discussed this with recently told me he intended to tell the additional pastor exactly what he could and could not do. Wrong! Good motivation would involve the two pastors working together, discussing their strengths and weaknesses, the parameters the work entailed, and the gifts of the Spirit both had.
2. No sharing the glory.
Every person called by God and equipped by training has a need to feel appreciated. One may be the team leader, but both need equal recognition. See that it is done in the church bulletins, how they are both titled, what recognition they receive in public, who is given the credit for accomplishments and so on.
I have never used the term of myself “Senior Pastor”. That means my colleague must be junior in the eyes of others. Use terms to differentiate each other based upon each person’s major tasks.
For the last decade of my active ministry, I had a team of 26 ministers, pastors, youth leaders, administrators and so on. They were described by functional roles. To make sure they had maximum exposure before large crowds, they were involved in all major events, and for my part, I never took the lead role in conducting celebrations, weddings, funerals and the like, even though I would attend these functions, and was often asked by one of my colleagues to take part. Since retirement I have worked in a team of two as the junior partner with a colleague whose favourite text is “I share my glory with no man.”
3. Lack of consensus thinking.
Even in denominations that involve serried ranks of seniority with titles of command (e.g., Salvation Army, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox etc), it is now recognised that each member of staff has to be involved in the whole ministry of the church, and this involves being part of the decision making process if ownership of the ministry to be achieved. Leadership based upon military commands and rank is just asking for trouble.
Weekly meetings where each reports, raises issues, accepts responsibilities, and decides on future direction are essential. I have also included key lay people in these meetings as well who are valuable in giving insights, keeping the right balance, and encouraging helpful directions. Leadership that depends upon the exercise of authority soon ceases to generate respect and positive response.
4. Refusal to share responsibilities.
Once in doing research into church leadership styles in ministry, I visited over 300 churches in over 40 states of America. The most common complaint among staff was resentment against the senior minister by newer and usually younger pastors was that the leader hogged the limelight, and handed out all the difficult and often unpleasant jobs to the subordinates.
The way I handled this later with my colleagues, was at a meeting to discuss the following year’s responsibilities, we placed on the table a card each listing one of our major responsibilities from that past year. Soon there were several hundred cards each listing one task that had to be done. Then each colleague picked up a proportion of the tasks for the next year that they would like to undertake and for which they felt they had the skills and gifting.
That left some tasks that should be done left over. They were the that tasks no-one wanted. We then added to our bundles a number of these unwanted tasks, things that were necessary in the life of the church which no one wanted to do, on the understanding that those jobs would be yours for the next year only. A shared responsibility reduces criticism and raises morale.
5. Not handling relationship issues.
Every work situation involves positive handling of tensions. Otherwise they just ferment until they boil over. Problems openly tackled always have a solution. Only those left hidden and simmering poison the system. If one colleague keeps spreading pessimism concerning the church raise that issue. Handle the attitude, do not reject the person. If another lies, handle the issue, and do not avoid it.
6. Lack of personal socialization.
The worst working environment for clergy, pastoral staff and administrators is to have everyone in a church office for much of the time. The place for staff is usually in the field doing their work. Roster your days in the church office, so at least one is there for casual callers. Socialize at a set time round your set appointments. A weekly coffee time, a fortnightly barbecue, a night with a sports team becomes essential. Numbers of my staff preferred to work from home, but on a Tuesday morning we met weekly, and some of our remote colleagues in church plants came in once a month for lunch.
Jesus worked in a team, some of whom were racially, ethnically and religiously different from the rest. Yet he was a leader who held them all (save one), and they served him faithfully even after his death and departure from them. Churches grow best whenever a team works efficiently and effectively.
Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.