The following quote is lifted from Christianity Today’s article “Church Pink Slips” with special thanks Todd Rhodes for the link. In tough times, should the church or ministry reciprocate the dedication of its employees by keeping staff employed?
“A ministry’s mission is not to employ people; it is to serve a cause or constituency,” said Jim West, managing partner of the Orange County, California-based Barnabas Group, an organization for Christian leaders.
The church’s mission must be to introduce people to Jesus in such a way that the entire community is changed, said Tim Stevens, [the executive pastor at Granger Community Church]. That can’t happen, he said, if the church loses its integrity by failing to pay its bills.
“It will be a sad day when the mission of the church is reduced to keeping people employed,” added the executive pastor, whose congregation gave laid-off staff members three months of severance and benefits and hired a career transition coach to help them find jobs.
As the Church of God trims a mandated 33% off of its denominational budget and faces a downturning economy, there is no doubt that we are facing this question. In fact, leading into the decision to cut the Tithe of Tithe fees, one of the leading objections was that real humans would need to be released from employment. In light of these realities and the comments in the article by people like Tim Stevens and Jim West, how aggressive should we be with staff/administrative reductions on the denominational level? And, what should our disposition be toward such reductions?
Filed under: church of god
