by: Jim Schlottman
11/1/2004

This past week I had the opportunity to listen to H. B. London speak to a gathering of pastors and lay leaders. He shared with us a staggering statistic: 1,200 pastors leave the ministry each month. Some leave due to retirement, others leave to pursue ministry outside of the pastorate, but far too many leave for troubling reasons.

In this issue of Compass we address some very serious issues in our society and in our church congregations. The topics may make you feel uncomfortable, but they address the realities of ministry today:

David Ragsdale addresses one of the issues that is forcing ministers to step down from their pulpits—unresolved conflict. Dave offers another staggering statistic: at least 19,000 churches split or are scarred by major conflict each year. He writes: “Because many wounded leaders go underground with their emotional pain, the ripple effect of unresolved church conflicts is often hard to measure.” In this Part 1 of a two-part article (see next issue for the rest), Dave describes five skills pastors can use in conflict resolution.

Ken Swetland shares a mini–case study on spouse and child abuse from his forthcoming book, Facing Messy Stuff in the Church: Case Studies for Pastors and Congregations. With the large number of stories of abuse on television and in the newspapers, we could become numb to the issue or think ourselves immune from the problem. Ken shatters complacency with his case study of abuse committed by a pastor. He doesn’t conclude his article with a happy ending, but instead asks you to consider what outcomes might ensure the abused wife’s long-term happiness.

The fiction piece by Dr. Keith McDonald adds a little humor to these serious topics. As you digest his story, you’ll get a glimpse into the life of pastoral ministry. And although the story is expressed in the Victorian lives of the characters, the serious fact is that the Reverend Sandy MacMillan is fast becoming part of the statistic shared by H. B. London.

We hope these articles will open discussions between pastors and their peers, among lay leaders in the church, and between lay leaders and their pastors. Only through open dialog will we perhaps prevent a few pastors from leaving their churches and stop a few church splits. If we are successful in reversing the frightening trends, we’ll be helping proclaim the Gospel in its fullness.