1 of 7
Overcoming Turnover Troubles
Can you maintain consistent direction with changing boards?
1 of 7
It was the largest church project I'd ever worked on—a year-long outreach campaign that would include radio and television announcements, newspaper ads, and direct mail. The benefits for the church would be enormous. Implementation was at hand. Then the telephone rang. "I hate to say it," Bernie said, his voice sounding strained, "but I've been promoted by my company. I won't have as much free time, so I've got to resign the board. You do understand how sorry I am?" Of course I understood. As chairman of the board, I had no choice. I also knew what Bernie's resignation meant to our project. He was the key man. It had been his idea. He had written the plan, nursed it along, sold it to the pastor and our board. No one had the vision for that project like Bernie. Now, practically on the eve of its fruition, Bernie was leaving. "It's going to set us back," I told him. "But we'll get it done." I was wrong. The project died a slow and painful death. It was no one's fault really, but at the time I felt a sense of personal failure. Although Bernie's replacement was a great worker, he took a while to get up to speed. By that time, we were a lame-duck board. A new slate took over, and it was back to square one. Bernie's project remained on the agenda, but it was merely something left for them to "clean up." As a result, the project was allowed to fade away. It was too bad. Bernie's idea would have been good for the church. We had invested a great deal of our time and the church's money in pursuing it. In the end it was wasted because our direction could not be sustained through a change of volunteer personnel. The demise of a major project by an orderly replacement of board members may sound extreme, yet it's an all-too-common occurrence in churches. The Problem of TurnoverMy ministry takes me into a variety of churches. During my visit, a pastor or lay leader often will wax eloquent about a new idea the church is putting into action. I'm amazed how often I'll return to that church a few months later and find the very idea or program that was once so exciting has been abandoned. Sometimes I ask why. The pastor or leader will usually shrug his shoulders and mumble something like, "I don't actually know." Upon further exploration, it's often tied to a change of personnel in a decision-making body. There's no question about it—it's difficult to maintain a consistent direction when boards change. Elections and resignations take their toll. Key committee responsibilities have to be reassigned. New board members often hesitate to ask questions of those they have replaced. They don't want to appear stupid by asking dumb questions. Thus, people now called upon to make decisions don't know the background of past actions. Besides, they may have their own priorities, and these may directly oppose their predecessors'. As a result, a great deal of effort is lost and ministry stifled. |             |
share this page
