COMMENTARY: Some lessons from the real world are better left unlearned

c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-A recent survey of Protestant ministers in the United States presents some depressing news: Nearly 25 percent have reported being dismissed or forced to resign from their congregations. While no precise data is available for the Jewish […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

(Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.)

(RNS)-A recent survey of Protestant ministers in the United States presents some depressing news: Nearly 25 percent have reported being dismissed or forced to resign from their congregations.


While no precise data is available for the Jewish community, the list of rabbis who have lost their synagogue jobs is long and growing. Clearly, the ministry can be a dangerous profession, hazardous to an individual’s psychological, spiritual and financial health.

Being fired from any position is painful, but it is especially traumatic for altruistic men and women who have dedicated their lives to serving humanity, encouraging spirituality, comforting the sick and the bereaved, teaching ethical values, and preserving an ancient religious tradition.

It is true that there are inept Christian and Jewish clergy who do not deserve to lead congregations and should never have been admitted to seminary. And tragically, some congregations are”clergy traps,”with long histories of dismissing spiritual leaders.

But the apparent epidemic of clergy dismissals has yet another cause: Tough-minded personnel practices usually associated with the world of commerce are increasingly-and unfairly-applied to synagogues and churches. Rabbis and ministers are frequently viewed not as religious leaders, but as chief executive officers of their congregations.

There’s no question that a member of the clergy must have the skills to administer a budget, deal with employees and keep the congregation functioning. And while seminaries teach their students plenty about the Bible, theology, history, liturgy and sermonizing, they don’t teach enough about effective management principles.

But trouble looms for members of the clergy when business principles become the dominant value. When congregational leaders start using terms like”downsizing”or”the bottom line”and when they talk about”finding our niche,”or describing congregation members as”consumers,”the clerical CEO is in for a rough ride.

Stories abound of CEOs being summarily dismissed by boards of troubled companies. Fired CEOs lamely explain that they have stepped down”to pursue other interests”or to”study philosophy and the Bible.”Some mumble that they want to spend more time with their families.

Dismissed rabbis and ministers cannot easily hide behind such convenient explanations. And the decidedly uncivil tactic of the summary dismissal is hard to reconcile in synagogues and churches supposedly rooted in biblical values.


The survey of Protestant ministers had other distressing news. Nearly 20 percent of the respondents said that when they disclosed confidential problems to their denominational leaders, the critical information was used to impede future employment possibilities.

So much for collegial solidarity.

Some fired clergy make the bitter discovery that a trusted colleague coveted their job and worked against the embattled rabbi, priest or minister. There are countless stories of assistants or associates succeeding the ousted senior clergy.”Palace coups”happen everywhere, even in houses of worship.

And denominational leaders often appease angry members of a congregation by failing to back beleaguered clergy whose jobs are in danger. This is especially true when the critics of a church or synagogue are either wealthy or politically influential.

What emerges from the survey is a grim picture of bewildered spiritual leaders confronted by hostile congregations.

Left alone to face an antagonistic board, many clergy start to question their own leadership qualities. A paralyzing self-doubt puts them on the defensive. Sermons become bland, new initiatives are postponed, eye contact with congregational members is avoided. At home, relations with spouses and children become strained.

Fortunately, some clergy associations have organized groups of skilled trouble-shooters who act as mediators when things go sour. These religious SWAT teams move into discordant congregations and provide vital impartial advice that can ease tensions and re-establish a trusting relationship between clergy and congregation.


Churches and synagogues are not businesses. But they can function like an enlightened corporation when everyone involved has a clear and mutually agreed-upon set of realistic expectations, guided by the religious tradition that is the reason for their existence. That’s a lesson from the real world that seminaries and search committees should heed.

MJP END RUDIN

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