Navigational Errors
A thriving church sank, not because it hit an iceberg, but because of six leadership mistakes afterward.
[ Name Withheld ]
October 1, 2004
A church can sink in a hurry. Ours did. We never would have predicted it.
A year ago, Trinity Episcopal Church was a vibrant parish. While the congregation contained both conservatives and liberals, we had a peaceful and healthy coexistence. The pastoral staff identified themselves as evangelical, as did most of the Christian education workers, and (in the spirit of full disclosure) so did I, a seminary-educated layman who served on the church board. The Vestry—the governing board—well represented the theological make-up of the congregation, with a 10-4 conservative majority.
Now a year later—September 2004—the entire pastoral staff is gone, attendance is down 75 percent, most of the Christian education leaders have either left the church or are hesitant to sign up for another year of duty. The parish is deeply discouraged, mission giving is down, and the near future of the parish looks bleak, financially and spiritually.
While a number of incidents conspired to sink the hundred-year-old Trinity, for the sake of this article, I'd like to look at our leadership. Our pastor, Father Collin Shaw, is neither evil nor incompetent. He was largely responsible in his eight years of ministry for the overall vigor of the congregation as it existed on August 5, 2003. In the months that followed, he often led with political and spiritual savvy. But in the end, some of the mistakes he, and those of us in leadership, made proved to be terribly damaging.
All names have been changed in this article because I see no need to hurt or embarrass anyone at Trinity, especially Father Collin. Like the captain of the Titanic, he is a good man and a good leader whose mistakes in judgment contributed significantly to the capsizing of the good ship Trinity. ...
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