Top Ten Ways to Demotivate a Pastor...in no particular order.
10. Tell her that theology is a fine thing in church but it doesn't really matter in the real world.
9. Make your church involvement second to everything else.
8. Have conversations about the pastor but not with the pastor.
7. Do everything possible to keep everyone happy--except the pastor. You will succeed in your task. And please be prepared to volunteer for the next pastoral search committee which will be organized in about six months.
6. Make jokes about how pastors only work one hour per week. Before long, the pastor will be tempted to do just that.
5. Ignore the pastor until there is a perceived emergency. Then complain that the pastor wasn't immediately available.
4. Demand that the church does the same things over and over every year. After all, what the church does is not all that important. What matters is that it looks like the church is doing something.
3. Penalize the pastor for pursuing connections with people outside the church. Of course, the pastor should only spend time on the people who hired him.
2. Make the pastor ask for vacation and continuing education time and require such requests to be approved by a formal vote. After all, these things are privileges and the pastor ought to be grateful to get anything at all.
1. Walk into the parsonage without prior appointment. Call with non-emergency church business at 11 p.m. or 6 a.m. That's what "on-call" means, right?
Treat the pastor as a means to an end without any larger purpose or goal...if you like turnover in pastors and pastries, it's a good formula.
10. Tell her that theology is a fine thing in church but it doesn't really matter in the real world.
9. Make your church involvement second to everything else.
8. Have conversations about the pastor but not with the pastor.
7. Do everything possible to keep everyone happy--except the pastor. You will succeed in your task. And please be prepared to volunteer for the next pastoral search committee which will be organized in about six months.
6. Make jokes about how pastors only work one hour per week. Before long, the pastor will be tempted to do just that.
5. Ignore the pastor until there is a perceived emergency. Then complain that the pastor wasn't immediately available.
4. Demand that the church does the same things over and over every year. After all, what the church does is not all that important. What matters is that it looks like the church is doing something.
3. Penalize the pastor for pursuing connections with people outside the church. Of course, the pastor should only spend time on the people who hired him.
2. Make the pastor ask for vacation and continuing education time and require such requests to be approved by a formal vote. After all, these things are privileges and the pastor ought to be grateful to get anything at all.
1. Walk into the parsonage without prior appointment. Call with non-emergency church business at 11 p.m. or 6 a.m. That's what "on-call" means, right?
Treat the pastor as a means to an end without any larger purpose or goal...if you like turnover in pastors and pastries, it's a good formula.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I'm always glad to hear from YOU!