by: Jim Schlottman
1/1/2005

As I paged through the magazine, the news article headline caught my attention. It stated, “Disgruntled Canadian Clergy Unionize”. I’d never heard of such an action by clergy. Then as I read the article I was taken back when they said they were meeting with the Canadian Auto Workers to sign their union cards.

The article continued, “Saying they have been victims of harassment and emotional abuse for too long, ministers of the United Church of Canada have launched an unprecedented drive to unionize.

Every week as I answer my phone I hear stories about pastors who have been emotionally abused and as I read their list of complaints I could relate. The Canadian pastors said that low wages, lack of security, ongoing abuse of clergy by congregants, and the failure of officials to address it compelled them to take the step.

We may or may not agree with their methods, but we can relate to their frustration. I have to commend them for taking a stand. What I liked about the article was that it stated in black and white that there is a problem. Many pew sitters have no realization that a problem even exists. As one person wrote me several years ago, “If they can’t handle it why don’t they get real jobs”. With 1,200 pastors leaving the ministry each month, “they are getting real jobs”.

If you’re going to unionize, I’ll make the picket signs. I’m really good at making signs. But if you don’t feel that you want to join the Auto Workers, you can join me in unionizing. I have a plan!

The strength and value of unionizing is in the word itself. That is the concept of a union of people who have a common cause or a common enemy. You’ve heard the old saying that the reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy, the parents. In our case, who is our common enemy and how can we effectively form a union that will give us the bargaining power and the strength we need to address the growing issues causing pastors to leave their pulpit, resulting in the Gospel going unspoken.

My plan is to form unions of small groups of pastors. From the other members of this union you can gain the strength you need to face our common enemy. Together in this union you can plan strategies and plot actions to be taken against the enemy. You can then have the confidence you need and you won’t have to face our common enemy alone.

So I call on you to rise up today and form these unions, so that we can change the circumstances that are driving so many from ministry. Today, I want you to go out and gather together a small group of pastors in your community and form a union. How’s that for a plan?

By now you have probably figured out that the unions I’m talking about are pastor covenant groups. As you may have read, Dave Ragsdale, our Director of Counseling and I will be leading a conference titled, “Leading with Courage through Congregational Conflict”. So we know that at times congregations and individuals within congregations do become the enemy, but we all know that the true enemy is Satan.

So I want to encourage you to be in a small group where mutuality, support, encouragement, and accountability are core values. In these groups you will carry out God’s plan as stated in Galatians 2:6, “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ”.

If you would like more information about forming a Pastors Covenant Group, please let me know. I’ll send you a paper we’ve prepared that outlines the steps to take in forming a Covenant Group.