As a seminary professor, church leader and former pastor, I am keenly aware that many Christians have a very negative view of “church politics.” Church leaders often feel confused or even paralyzed by the power dynamics at play in their churches. Those same leaders are often ill-equipped to use and help others use power in ways that are of maximum benefit to their ministries. Both paid and volunteer leaders in the church and in other ministries often find themselves wandering blindly through minefields of competing interests.
I strongly believe that understanding and navigating power dynamics well is an essential part of leadership. During my 20 years of pastoral ministry, I repeatedly faced what I considered an intrusion of church politics into my ministry. I found it distracting and frustrating. What I now realize is that organizational politics is a normal and necessary part of organizational life (yes, church politics can be a blessing). Wherever you have a group of people, you will have exertions of power.
My desire is to provide both veteran and emerging leaders with knowledge about power dynamics and direction for managing these influential forces. As I have shared these ideas with church leaders, I have seen the light go on for some of them. They realize that power is not bad in and of itself. It is how we use and help others use power that can produce positive or negative results.
As I have equipped people to become better “power managers,” I believe that they are able to go back into their ministries with eyes able to discern what is happening on the political landscape and with skills that enable them to navigate the terrain more effectively.
In practical terms, this helps them to even out the playing field so that everyone has a chance to contribute to the ministry in a meaningful way. They are better able to avoid both intentional and unintentional abuses of power and to help others do the same. They are equipped to help those who have more power leverage their influence to help those with less, giving those on the margins an opportunity to speak into the process of change.
The result is that more people can use what God has given them for the strengthening of the ministry.
Unfortunately, many Christian leaders check out of leadership, not realizing that the organizational politics that hurt them could have become one of their greatest allies for enacting positive change.
Navigating church politics is often a difficult, time-consuming process. We may see some of the obstacles, but others lurk beneath the surface. Yet, if we learn to set our sails correctly and make the most of favorable winds and currents, we can make progress in achieving God’s mission together.
Note: In Randy’s book, Navigating Church Politics, he journeys with one church for a year as they go through an intense direction-setting process. He describes both the good and bad uses of power that surfaced and what church leaders can learn and apply to their ministry contexts.