Simon and Garfunkel, the Oak Ridge Boys, and the Temptations–they all have a harmony that borders on the divine. Individual parts blend into a glorious whole; the many become one. Divine harmony is not the first phrase that comes to mind when describing the music of church boards. Too often board music is the “clanging cymbal” described by Paul in First Corinthians 13. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
To find out what it takes for a pastor and board to work well together, LEADERSHIP editors Bob Moeller and David Goetz talked with two leaders from Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan: Ed Dobson, Calvary’s pastor; and Jim Buick, former CEO of The Zondervan Corporation and a church board member.
Calvary Church has a long history of strong-minded leaders, yet as you’ll hear in this conversation, they’ve found a way to keep the music in their relationship.
LEADERSHIP:
Is “enjoyable board meeting” an oxymoron?
ED DOBSON:
Boards deal with serious issues, so I don’t believe there is a way to make meetings more enjoyable. But at Calvary, we do spend significant time praying together at the beginning of each meeting. We’ll pray for up to an hour for specific needs. When we first started doing that, I thought, We can pray at other times. Let’s get to work. But then I realized that prayer is the real business of our board.
JIM BUICK:
While the meetings might not be enjoyable, they can be satisfying. For over a year, our board developed a policy on divorce. When we finally reached the evening of decision, the board voted unanimously in favor of the policy. I felt a deep sense of accomplishment when I got home that night. I found myself saying, “That’s right. That’s what the Bible says. I can support this.” It was satisfying to put hard effort into something that turned out so well.
LEADERSHIP:
As a board member, Jim, what traits do you admire in a pastor?
BUICK:
I appreciate Ed’s attitude. Every time he brings an idea to the board, he communicates, “I am accountable and willing to submit to this board.” That’s one reason why the board often responds positively to his initiatives. But we always discuss his proposals and make changes as necessary; we don’t feel pressure to vote up or down on an issue just because he’s the pastor.
At the same time, we look to Ed for spiritual leadership and biblical instruction. I would find it difficult to feel satisfied with a pastor’s leadership unless I was really being fed, challenged, and convicted by what I heard in the pulpit. Ed’s thoroughness and quality of preparation have created both respect and a sense of authority.
LEADERSHIP:
What is the board’s responsibility to a pastor?
BUICK:
The demands of a church like ours could easily burn out a person if there weren’t clear-cut guidelines to protect days off and family time. Once Ed came to the board saying he was slowly drowning under the weight of all his commitments. He said he wasn’t burned out yet but feeling overwhelmed. In response, we formed a committee, which includes Ed’s wife, to review his commitments.
We’re concerned that he take blocks of time for restoration and study. Not long ago he took a trip to Ireland, and when he returned, there was a discernible revitalization of his messages. We want to protect him and his family for the long term. God has given him a remarkable gift, and we need to guard it carefully.
LEADERSHIP:
Ed, what traits do you admire most in a board member?
DOBSON:
Individuals who are godly–people seeking to grow through Scripture and a life of prayer. If I’m seeking God and they’re seeking God, our common commitment to personal growth will help us clear the high hurdles.
The other trait I value is honesty. I want board members who will tell me something to my face or in front of everyone else. One board member advised me early on, “We are by nature blunt. As long as we keep talking blunt with you, you’ll know you’re one of us. But if we ever stop, you might as well leave.”
LEADERSHIP:
You never take offense at their bluntness?
DOBSON:
I don’t want everybody to agree with me. That would be terribly patronizing. Of course, there’s no danger of that happening in this church. (Laughter)
One evening, one of our board members said, “Pastor, I have concluded that in this church it’s much better to break your leg than it is to go to the mission field.” I was caught off guard. He went on, “Every Sunday you pray with great compassion for those who are sick. You name them by name. But you never pray for the missionaries or mention their names. I’ve concluded that in your theology, it’s better to end up in the hospital than it is to spend your life on the mission field.”
After a few moments of deafening silence, I said, “Come to think of it, you’re probably right. If you judged my commitment to missions solely on the content of my pastoral prayers, that’s a reasonable conclusion. If you start singing ‘Just As I Am,’ I will come forward and repent.” The board member laughed, and so did everyone else. He wasn’t being hostile, he was just being blunt. I needed to recognize that he had made a significant point.
On another occasion a board member essentially called me ignorant and foolish. It was the closest I’ve come to defending myself, which I never do. But I didn’t have to say anything; his tactics had discredited him.
BUICK:
We believe in open board meetings where everything’s fair game. But we are also willing to say to a board member, “You need to rephrase what you just said.” If someone makes a vitriolic attack, we make sure the issue gets resolved. Even if I were not the chairman, I’d ask that two elders work with the individual and the pastor to resolve the issue.
LEADERSHIP:
Ed, how do you respond when the board hands you a defeat?
DOBSON:
I once opposed a board proposal to sell tickets for our annual Christmas concert. I was fundamentally opposed to selling tickets for a ministry event.
BUICK:
I wasn’t on the board at the time, but I suspect they were trying to bring order to a process that had grown unwieldy. Before, there was no guaranteed seating. Selling tickets would allow members to bring guests knowing there would be seats available for them. But if I remember right, Ed, you certainly didn’t pout for long.
DOBSON:
No, but I did lose. I carried only a third of the board. Part of me was very disappointed. But I’ve determined that if I lose an issue, it’s not the end of the world.
LEADERSHIP:
What do you do when the board can’t agree on an issue?
BUICK:
It’s often time consuming and frustrating, but we make certain everyone gets a hearing, even if doing so takes all night. I’ve literally been on a plane to another city before some meetings have ended. But the members have the liberty to raise questions, express their views, and receive a respectful hearing.
DOBSON:
We take our time on major issues until we reach a consensus. For example, we just recently completed a building program. Originally, we asked the congregation to approve the project on the condition we would raise the entire amount in three-year pledges. If the funds didn’t come in, we promised we wouldn’t build.
Once the campaign was over, though, we had only half the money needed. So the issue went back to the board, and we went round and round about what to do next. We concluded we had made a promise to the congregation we needed to live up to. So I went before the congregation and explained the situation. I finished by saying, “The board has asked me to say that we don’t know what we’re going to do next. We’d appreciate your prayers.”
BUICK:
The board demonstrated real leadership. (Laughter)
DOBSON:
Nine months later the board agreed to conduct another pledge drive. The consensus was that we would cover any shortfall with a short-term loan. By the time the building was nearly finished, we already had half the cash in hand. Then one day a man walked into my office and said, “Pastor, God has been good to our family. I’d like to pay off what’s remaining on the building.”
LEADERSHIP:
That’s every pastor’s fantasy. What’s the maximum speed limit for a pastor introducing change at the board level?
BUICK:
Ken Blanchard, author of “The One-Minute Manager,” claims it’s at least three years before you get an acceptance for change, three to five years before you start seeing evidence of change. So starting something right away is a sure way to shoot yourself in the foot.
DOBSON:
Proposing sweeping changes in the first couple years at a church only demonstrates insensitivity. The people at my church were here before me and will still be here when I’m gone. In one sense, I’m their hired hand. When I was interviewed for this job, I was asked, “What would you do with Sunday school?”
I said, “I have no idea.” I was being honest. In retrospect, it was the best thing I could have said.
LEADERSHIP:
Isn’t it part of the pastor’s responsibility to establish a vision and initiate change?
DOBSON:
Yes, but it’s also the pastor’s responsibility to discover the church’s boundaries and agree to live within them unless they are contrary to Scripture.
I remember the Sunday evening a gospel jazz band was featured at Calvary. Sixty percent of the crowd loved it, the other 40 percent, who pay most of the bills, did not. The board called the staff in and said, “We recognize there’s nothing wrong with a gospel jazz band. We could probably have lived with it had you done one number and then gone on. But we heard gospel jazz the entire night. It was as if you were shoving it down our throats.”
My response was to agree with the board. Why do something that alienates people from worship?
LEADERSHIP:
Did you feel restricted by the board’s decision?
DOBSON:
Too often we pastors tend to look at what the board won’t allow us to do rather than what the board will allow. I recently talked with a pastor who felt his elders weren’t as mature as they should be. He even felt some of them were corrupt, and he didn’t know how he could survive in a corrupt system.
But my answer was, “God brought me here primarily to teach the Bible. No one has ever told me how to do that. I have complete freedom to be faithful to the Scriptures and to love people. And every board, regardless of how immature they may be, will grant a pastor that freedom.”
Even if a meeting gets long and frustrating, pastors need to remind themselves it is just one night of the month. I’ve still got twenty-nine days to do ministry.
LEADERSHIP:
What if a pastor feels a particular issue is a referendum on his or her ministry?
BUICK:
By setting it up that way, you’re using intimidation. Intimidation and teamwork just don’t go together. That’s certainly true in the business world. When people would say, “Someone else has made me a better offer. Are you going to give me a raise or not?” I would say, “Take the offer. Any promotion you get with a gun to my head won’t last very long.”
DOBSON:
When I worked for Jerry Falwell, he said, “Ed, you can sit me down and tell me anything. You can tell me I’ve made a ridiculous decision. You can tell me that I’ve just said something stupid. But don’t ever threaten me. Don’t ever say, ‘Do this or I quit.’ Because the moment you do, you’ve just resigned. Even if you later change your mind and apologize, you’re still out of here.” That was good advice. As pastors, if we go to our board and say, “Do this or I quit,” I think we’re making a mistake.
LEADERSHIP:
How, then, should pastors and board members view their roles?
BUICK:
We are stewards of the church, not owners. We need to care more about the kingdom of God going forward than about our program or idea. At Zondervan we held to the concept of the servant leader from John 13, where Jesus washes Peter’s feet. Jesus ruined the entire organizational chart when he stooped down to perform that menial task. It certainly bewildered Peter. But that’s the model Christ gave to us in leadership.
In the late ’80s, we witnessed some highly publicized ministries in which more taking than giving went on. But the same thing can occur in smaller churches, too. The pastor gets caught up in his position or becomes too identified with a particular program or idea, so he picks the board, defines the agenda, and, if things go wrong, blames others. That’s exalting self, not serving others.
DOBSON:
Ownership works fine as long as everything is headed upward. You’re a hero and can do no wrong. But ownership is a terrible burden when things start to go the other direction. You become the brunt of everyone’s criticism.
LEADERSHIP:
How does Calvary Church find servants instead of owners for its leadership team?
DOBSON:
We use the criteria of 1 Timothy 3. When someone is nominated, at least two others must support the name. Anyone can object to a particular nomination, and that nominee is automatically eliminated unless the person who nominated him feels strongly he is still qualified. In that case, the person who raised the objection goes out of the meeting with the chairman to explain his concerns.
I’ve objected to some people, and when I have, I call the nominee the next day and explain why I did. I assume that individual will eventually learn I objected to his serving on the board, and I would rather tell the person straight to his face. On one occasion an individual was nominated who I knew was going through marriage problems. I called and told him that once those issues were resolved, he would be eligible. He told me he was disappointed but understood my decision.
LEADERSHIP:
Are strong boards and strong pastors mutually exclusive?
DOBSON:
That depends on how you define a strong pastor. I would define a strong pastor as a leader and a visionary, not a person on whom everything rises or falls.
I appreciate our board’s strength, which was developed during hard times. Years ago, the board refused to relent on an issue and insisted on a pastor’s resignation, though they knew it would cost them many families. It did: the pastor took four hundred people and started another church.
Decades later, most of those families have found their way back to this church, and the board warmly welcomed them back. If you ask the people who have been here through all those difficult times, they will tell you how much they appreciate the strength of this board.
BUICK:
A pastor’s strength must come from his preaching and teaching ministry, not primarily from exerting authority. A strong board is one that’s competent and accountable to the members. Both are needed to make a strong church.
Copyright (c) 1995 Christianity Today, Inc./LEADERSHIP Journal
Copyright © 1995 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
