Growth Points with Dr. Mc
Rebounding After Disaster
On Your Mark — Disaster threatens a church following accidental parenthood (church split), physical damage (sanctuary burns down), moral dilemma (pastoral impropriety), or a number of other events.
Turning a church around from one of these or other potential disasters takes patience, creativity, and a sound strategy.
How do you bring a church back from such disaster? How do you help your people pick themselves up, put the past behind them, and confidently face the future?
Get Set — Churches experiencing a disaster face five common challenges.
1. Low Morale — People who have spent years or months in a pressure cooker atmosphere are normally discouraged. They may even be angry that God has let this happen to them. Lost dreams, threatened security, and being all beat-up result in low morale.
2. Survival Mode — People take a defensive position to protect themselves from further hurt and danger. New ways of doing things—creative solutions—are often resisted. Thought turns to protecting what is left, resulting in a survival mentality.
3. Passive Attitudes — People take on a wait-and-see attitude. Attempts to recruit new workers into all church ministry areas meet with a so-so response. Many view ministry as a trap and refuse to get involved.
4. Consolidated Power — Leaders grab power and keep decision-making close in an effort to protect themselves from further hurt. Anyone seeking to challenge their new found control are met with strong resistance. Anything which is perceived to threatened the calm is fiercely challenged.
5. Loss of Respect — People lose respect for the pastoral office. The pastor is regularly perceived to be part of the crisis. Directly or indirectly the office is seen with skepticism. A new pastor will face resistance for months or years due to this loss of respect.
Grow — It’s important to keep three principles in mind. First, effective turnaround pastors work from the bottom-up and the top-down. Turning a church around requires a leader who is able to rally the people publicly and privately. While providing a new vision from the pulpit, the turnaround pastor must stay close to the people helping them recover enthusiasm and courage to move forward.
Second, effective turnaround pastors move quickly. Traditional wisdom tells pastors not to make major changes during their first year in a new pastorate. The opposite is needed of a turnaround pastor. Turning a church around means taking advantage of the flexibility of the honeymoon period to make as many changes as possible. There is no time to wait in a crisis situation.
Third, Leading a church back from disaster is not the time to work for a consensus. People in trouble look for leaders who are decisive. Turning a church around means taking control and giving direction.
Keep these principles in mind as you work to rebuild a church following disaster.
-Gary L. McIntosh, Ph.D.
Author of The Ten Key Roles of a Pastor
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