"A Little Advice" Shoes

"The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, 'Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,' and ' The worker deserves his wages.' " (1 Tim 5:17-18)

As the beginning of June approaches, I am reminded that this is often the time of year when pastors may leave one church setting and move to another. School is almost finished, so the time is convenient for most families to plan a move. With this in mind, here is a little advice to those churches who would like to see their current pastor leave when he shows no signs of doing so on his own. The following list of time-tested ideas should bring about the desired result:

• When hiring a new staff member who will be working closely with your senior pastor, be sure to select the individual that the senior pastor does not prefer.
• When you provide annual reviews of the senior pastor, make certain that you give him an unhealthy dose of negative feedback. 
• Whenever someone leaves your church, or some other difficulty occurs within the church, always find a way to blame it on the senior pastor.
• If you are the executive pastor and are a part of a meeting between the senior pastor and another staff member, please allow that staff member to yell at and disrespect the senior pastor without comment or correction.
• When the senior pastor has made it clear that a specific idea should not be considered, simply ignore his expressed opinion and bring it directly to the elders. Remember to assist the elders in choosing the best talking points to "sell" the idea to the congregation.
• Encourage others involved in the Sunday morning service to take additional time, thereby limiting the amount of time available for the sermon.
• Establish a sermon review committee to advise the senior pastor about his sermons. Make sure the committee includes high school students.
• When the senior pastor finally writes an 8 page letter listing a variety of concerns that he has concerning the direction of the church and his role as senior pastor, simply ignore the issues raised and do not even mention the letter at the following elders' meeting.
• If the senior pastor finally resigns, ask him to withdraw the resignation to make an appearance of trying to resolve the issues.
• Finally, even though the senior pastor does NOT resubmit his resignation, give him a call on Wednesday and let him know that the following Sunday (the one only four days away) will be his last.

This list of bullet points is not all inclusive, but it should achieve the desired result of removing your current senior pastor. Though he is a man of integrity, an expounder of Truth, and a servant-leader, you will succeed. Another set of bullet points concerning how to treat the senior pastor after he has left your church may be available at another date.

But wait, what about the verses from 1 Timothy that are shown at the top of this post? That is a very good question.