Victims of Church Staff Abuse: Evil Senior Pastor?

[SDG]

I know Lois has ran SpiritualAbuse.org for quite some time now... dealing w/ abuse from pastors/churches that mistreat predominantly the laity ...

but this one, at least to me, is new ...

I stumbled on a site called ShatteredTrust (click here to visit their site) that deals w/ issues pertaining to church workers/staff that are mistreated ....

Apparently the site owner also has a book dealing w/ the topic - AND IT'S FREE!!!.

Here is an passage from it's intro page:

Toxic Churches

A toxic church exists when "doing" becomes more important than "being."In a toxic church, service to God is viewed as keeping church systems functioning, God's blessing is seen as bigger budgets for bigger buildings to accommodate more people, and looking successful replaces love as the key ingredient. In a church like this, the church building is the place where God resides, and ministry success is measured by offerings received and the number of seats filled.A healing church speaks of Christ residing in people, not in buildings or programs. It encourages participants to be real and genuine, not appearance-oriented or performance-driven. As pastor and author Jerry Cook states, "Love means accepting people the way they are for Jesus' sake." When churches emphasize loving, caring, and "being;" staff associates can enjoy being part of a healing organization. However, when they emphasize performance, appearance, and "doing;" associates risk being abused by the organization's wounding dynamics.

On the surface, it is impossible to know if a church functions as a healing or wounding organization. Even internally, the situation can be masked. This puts a prospective staff associate in a vulnerable position. It is only through active involvement that an individual can really discern the true nature of a church organization. If a person looking to work for a healing church joins one that is toxic, he or she is in for a rude awakening.

One young man's experience while interning as a staff associate illustrates this dilemma. He had entered a church leadership program that promised senior pastor mentoring, Bible study, and a closer walk with Jesus, but once on the job, he discovered that his church was not the organization it had appeared to be. Instead of being loved and cared for, he was treated like a slave and expected to facilitate the church's promotional agenda. To his dismay, he realized that he had become indentured to a corporate minded leader intent on developing a growth-oriented organization. He felt betrayed and used. He ended his internship and stopped attending church. He explained that he loved God, but no longer viewed church as a safe place. Given his experience, it is hard to disagree.

Obviously, not all churches are religious machines. Most ministerial organizations genuinely desire to love God and serve people. However, toxic churches that put organizational success above the needs of people do exist and their numbers are growing. Staff associates who work for toxic churches are in danger of being exploited and mistreated. While there is no way to tell from the outside if a church is a toxic place or a place of healing, I believe the factor that most often plays a role in making a church toxic is when that church exchanges their spiritual paradigm for a corporate mandate.

Corporate Mandate vs. Spiritual Paradigm
God is Spirit, and His ways are unsearchable. His blessings, although very real, are not always tangible or even visible because by nature they are spiritual and organic. God's blessings are not to be measured or analyzed, they are meant to be experienced and lived. Churches that forget this in favor of qualifying and quantifying God's blessings ultimately abandon a "spiritual paradigm" in favor of a "corporate mandate" that measures success in terms of ever-increasing assets.

A corporate mandate is appropriate if the goal is measurable success; not so if the goal is to love God and serve people. This is because the aim of a corporate mandate is, above all else, to benefit the organization. Success for these organizations is defined in financial, material, and numeric terms. The feelings, hopes, and needs of people are of little consequence under this mandate. Of prime importance is making sure that the organization survives and thrives.

A church, however, is called to embrace a spiritual paradigm, not a corporate mandate. As disciples of Christ, we are commanded in John 13:34 and 1 John 3:23 to love fellow Christians in the same manner that Christ loves them. Churches are called to exercise faith, trusting God to lead, guide, and provide. They are not to measure, strategize, or lean on human understanding (Prov. 3:5-7). When a church organization becomes preoccupied with such things as promotion, production, and ministry image, it abandons a spiritual paradigm.
Churches do need to be organized. Whenever people come together there must be leadership, rules, and structure. The distinction between a healthy church and one being run under a corporate mandate is that instead of being served, people become slaves to a mindset that puts organizational need above the needs of people. Embracing a corporate mandate elevates the importance of the organization and motivates leaders to depreciate the value of loving God and serving people. Once this occurs, the organization takes on a self-serving mentality; meaning, whatever needs to be done to protect the organization is legitimized and spiritualized.

There are many ways for a corporate mindset to overtake a church. For example, it can happen when the hard work connected with a season of growth causes the church to lose sight of its original purpose. This happened to one church led by a pastor whom we will call Tom. He started the church by espousing such ideals as unconditional love and acceptance. The church's vision statement emphasized joy, community, and commitment to Christ. The church grew because Tom was committed to these ideals. Everything went well until the church became prosperous enough to purchase a building. Once the building was purchased, it became Tom's obsession. Money, remodeling, and filling seats were all he could think about. Subtly, ministry packaging and a promotional agenda became more important than caring for people. Today, the vision statement hangs in the foyer as only a sad reminder of what the church used to be. The promotional agenda still operates as a demonstration of what a church can become.

What happened to Tom and his church is not uncommon. Many churches begin by espousing spiritual and relational goals only to end up embracing a corporate mandate. It can happen slowly and imperceptibly, that in the name of doing "God's work" conscience is violated, integrity breached, or a situation manipulated. Such things happen all the time. For example, on any given Sunday it is not uncommon for senior pastors to garner emotional testimonies that "capitalize on the emotional bonds that…take advantage of people's warm feelings." This is done in the name of leading people to Christ or raising money to continue the church's ministry.

Manipulating emotions for the purpose of scripting a desired response is antithetical to the teachings of Christ. Nevertheless, it is often accepted and justified as being in the best interest of the church. Leaders who use these techniques are blind to the fact that in so doing, they are exchanging a spiritual paradigm for a corporate mandate. For these leaders organizational success may not be the stated goal, but it becomes the goal by default. In this environment, the staff is especially vulnerable because the goals of the organization are set, not by associates, but by the leaders in the power structure.

[SDG]

Senior pastors seem to be the focus/target of this site. Here is a FAQ:

What is the purpose of this website?
Shatteredtrust.com is the website of the Barnabas Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting fairness in the church workplace and supporting staff associates who have experienced workplace abuse in the church.

What is church-workplace abuse?
Church-place abuse has to do with senior pastors mistreating their staff employees

How do you define senior pastor mistreatment?
Senior pastor mistreatment is not a leader having a bad day and taking it out on a staff member. It is not being strict, demanding, opinionated or picky. The harm of senior pastor mistreatment goes far deeper than just causing inconvenience, discomfort or disappointment. Senior pastor mistreatment is an encroachment, offense or violation that causes an associate to experience a psycho-emotional wound or trust injury.

What is a trust injury?
Simply put, a trust injury is a broken heart. A trust injury occurs when a person of authority or relational significance in any way harms an individual under his or her care. It is a violation of power, a breach or trust, a breaking of boundries. Such an injury devastates staff associates to the core of their being. A wounded associate's world is broken and impaired. He or she has been harmed by someone trusted to represent God's love and provide care, guidance and protection.

Can you give an example?
A friend of mine who had served a large church for many years as a lay leader, decided it was time to embrace ministry as a vocation. With the pastor’s encouragement and support, he received Bible training, quit his job and joined the church staff as a full-time assistant. He considered his senior pastor boss to be a close friend, a man he could trust; or so he thought. Soon, something happened that would send him reeling.
Not long after joining the staff, the senior pastor asked him to deliver closing remarks following a guest speaker’s sermon. My friend had never done this before. He knew, though, that the senior pastor was aware of this fact, and assumed he would offer assistance if needed. However, when time came, the pastor did not assist him and the closing went badly. Following the service, while there were people still in the auditorium, the senior pastor approached him angrily and rebuked him before all who remained.
For my friend, it was as if a bomb had exploded under him. He felt shell-shocked; unable to think or breathe. After the encounter he slunk away, found an empty room, and sat alone in stunned silence. Before long, another staff member found him and offered an explanation. Apparently, it was the senior pastor’s pattern to set associates up to fail, so he could render forceful on-the-spot correction. It seems his intention was to impress upon associates that he alone was the boss.
My friend felt betrayed; traumatized by a leader he both loved and respected. It took a long time for him to recover his inner strength and self-esteem. The incident caused him to be tentative and watchful. He wanted nothing so hurtful to ever happen again.


Is senior pastor mistreatment widespread?
Sadly, this sort of story is not unique or unusual. A growing number of church staff associates are enduring mistreatment at the hands of their senior pastor bosses. Senior pastor mistreatment occurs when senior pastors, over time or by virtue of one catastrophic event, use power, position, authority, or influence to control, manipulate, or otherwise exploit staff associates.

What are the effects of senior pastor mistreatment?
Wounded staff associates are left feeling shocked and bewildered. They wonder what could have possessed their senior leader to treat them so abusively. They are mystified by the fact that the mistreatment seemed to be sanctioned by the church itself; an institution considered sacred, trustworthy, and safe. They have questions concerning what they can do, where they can go, and whom they can trust. But most of all, through the pain, staff associates are confused and angry. They feel abandoned, left to speculate alone about what went wrong in their church.

How can a called and committed senior pastor become a wounding agent?
Wounding senior pastors are not born; they are made. Some are abused as children or have been emotionally damaged by their dysfunctional families. Some give into egotistical thinking and develop wounding habits. Through leadership training, others come to believe that appropriating a ministry vision is the first priority. Sometimes senior pastors act out in destructive ways because they are overburdened by stress, burnout, vocational guilt, or a conflicted sense of self. In such cases narcissistic, compulsive, and depressed dependent tendencies contribute to a senior pastor’s tendency to mistreat others. Any one or combination of these factors can compel senior pastors to become wounding agents.

[Rhoni]

Assessing a Leader's Wounding PotentialSenior pastor mistreatment is a contradiction in terms. Church leaders are mandated to love and serve, not wound or damage. However, armed with their own brand of justification, wounding senior pastors devastate lives and place blame for the devastation upon those they wound. When this happens, instead of church being a house of prayer it seems more like a house of madness. Staff associates who work in the church under a senior pastor must keep their eyes open, lest they be overtaken by mistreatment masquerading as ministry. One way to determine whether senior pastors have wounding potential is to examine the gospel they preach.

When the angel announced Christ's birth to the shepherds, he told them that His arrival was "good news" (Lk. 2:10). When Jesus began His ministry, He told the crowds that He was proclaiming the good news of God's Kingdom (Lk. 4:43). The good news Jesus proclaimed was better than anyone could have ever dreamed. He declared the good news of God's love for all people.The good news of the kingdom involves salvation from death and the promise of eternal life. This gift of God is free, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus. The gift is not deserved, and it cannot be earned. It can only be received. Indeed, salvation means turning one's life over to Christ, but when Christians give up their lives to Him, He in return shows them how to live. Real life means loving God and serving people.

The good news declares that fear is gone. Every day is lived under the mantle of His grace. The goodness of His table is beyond expectation (Ps. 23:5). He guides steps, conforms people to His image, forgives sins, provides for needs, and so much more. None of this is accomplished through self-effort or works. On the contrary, Christians are instructed to "work hard" to rest (Heb. 4:1-11). The "good news," however, is not the only gospel being preached today. Many well-meaning senior pastors have wounding potential because they proclaim a "bad news" gospel that emphasizes performance, self-effort, and the need to maintain a legalistic religious standard. This gospel does not rest in what God has done for man; it emphasizes what man must do to be accepted by God. Such a gospel wounds people because it requires that they measure up to an unreachable standard. Those who preach a "bad news" gospel are constantly exhorting people to work harder so they can get to a place where God can use them. When failure occurs, individuals are judged as resisting God or branded as "unsavable." When a bad news gospel of performance is preached, church ceases to be a safe place. Instead of a healing center, it becomes a house of horrors.

RuthAnn, a staff intern, eloquently described the anguish of working for such an organization. After high school, she enrolled in a nationally recognized church leadership program. While she was there, she continually felt judged. Leaders made her feel unworthy and unacceptable. She confided, "They kept telling me that I needed to change and become a different person. I felt that if I didn't conform, Jesus and everyone else would be disappointed in me." This was all very frustrating for her until she realized that all she needed to do was trust God to mold her into the person He wanted her to be. "I accepted the fact that I am too weak to be a 'perfect' Christian, and so is everyone else. I was filled with joy when I realized that Jesus loves me just the way I am." It is true that obedience is a requisite part of what it means to cooperate with God. As C.S. Lewis writes, "Now, the demand was simply 'all.'" But it is God's job to conform us to His image and lead us into His will. RuthAnn's story had a happy ending because she had the courage and wisdom to embrace the one true Gospel.

Leadership have no idea of the wounds they give others in their sometimes unconscious effort to control, manipulate, and put a person in their place. The mark of a strong leader who can mentor other strong leaders is one who can delegate to a trusted equal and not worry about who is or isn't getting the credit. If a leader wants center stage and feels threatened when others are looked to for guidance and/or recognition, they are a weak leader with a small church, and limited ability for growth.

Blessings, Rhoni

[Sam]

A former pastor of mine used to say, "Some times we get so involved in church work that we forget the work of the church."

[Sister Alvear]

We must always remember we must be one with God and one with each other...If we love as He loves we will not try to lord over others...we will be their servant.

[SDG]

Bump.