by The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
The impact of a person
being terminated from a job leaves a crater in the life of that person and of
his or her family. But when the involuntary leave-taking is from a church
position to which the person felt called by God, the end result is much more damaging
to all involved. Metaphorically speaking, there may not be identifiable body
parts remaining unless proper support is in place. The Diocese has a vital role
to play to move beyond conflict management in order to provide spiritual and
vocational support for priests coming out of involuntary leave taking or as
other essayists have alluded, forced resignations.
What the Diocese can
do to maintain calls for the long term:
Teach Clergy
Essential Skills—Seminary
is an important formation experience, but it simply cannot provide all the
tools a priest needs. Seminaries are very effective at teaching the core
essentials of scripture, theology, church history and so on, but effective
leadership of a congregation takes very different skills from these core
essentials.
Conflict
has always existed in the Church and will always be present. Knowing how to
manage conflict is an essential skill and one that can lead to longer tenure
for clergy. That’s why in the Diocese of Georgia new clergy also take a
five-day workshops in Emotional Intelligence (EQHR) in their first year and in
Conflict Management in their second year. Along with required coaching and
spiritual direction and the leadership training provided by the Church
Development Institute, these additional training's help priests learn more
about their own personal tendencies and understand better how to use their
gifts (use of self) in parish leadership, especially in times of conflict.
We
are not alone. Other dioceses are likewise looking at ways to build this
awareness in their priests through additional training. These skills are in
fact best learned after seminary when the priest is engaged in parish ministry
and is more open to what she or he does not know about leading.
Teach Vestries
Healthy Practices—Every
vestry should understand the unhealthy effects of triangulation and anonymous
information. Congregations are well served by the Diocese providing this
training to new vestry members. By the Diocese teaching, and the Bishop and
staff consistently modeling this behavior, wardens and vestries can join their
clergy in healthy communication.
Not
permitting triangulation or accepting anonymous information helps everyone talk
openly and honestly about the issues they are facing. This should be a part of
regularly offered diocesan training for vestry members to teach best practices
and proactively address behavior that can be damaging to the congregation’s
life.
What the Diocese can
do when things head south:
The Bishop’s Office Should
Engage the Situation—When
the diocesan staff is aware of significant issues in a congregation, the bishop
and priest should meet face to face and consider together how best to respond.
This is critical. For a variety of reasons, both priests and lay leaders are
quite hesitant to involve the Diocese. Could it be, that such hesitancy
manifests because Diocesan staffs in general do not have a clear way of dealing
with conflict? Could it also be that
such hesitancy is born from the perception that the Diocese is not seen
standing by clergy in times of conflict and that such a perception leads to
priests and lay leaders alike keeping them out the loop until it is too late to
intervene? These are questions that bear further consideration as we look at
all parts of the system in such conflicts.
Such questions, however, does not absolve me and other diocesan staff,
as there are steps we can take before, during, and after such incidents.
However,
once the conflict level rises beyond a disagreement to a contest where people
are taking sides, merely praying about it or looking the other way assures that
the conflict will escalate.
This
is where the Bishop’s office must be proactive involving its direct work or
work with a consultant. In some cases, it may mean supporting the priest
through a process of taking leave from the congregation. In every case, priests
should know how their bishop stands with them. In such intractable conflict, it
is overly facile simply to blame the priest. Yes, she or he must be accountable
for his or her share of the conflict, but congregational leaders also need to
be held to equal account for their share.
If
the conflict points to a clear violation of canons including illegal use of
funds, inappropriate sexual relationships, and similar matters, the canons on
church discipline (Title IV) give direction to what happens next. Title IV,
when applied, assumes an offense has been committed. What if no offense has
been committed? What if there is no "conduct unbecoming as a member of the
clergy?" In Title IV cases, the diocesan staff makes provision that the
priest and his or her family has pastoral support and then follows the process.
This essay though, is
instead focused on situations of conflict outside of such discipline. The
Church, in such cases, has no formal provision for handling such situations.
Separation
Agreement and After—In cases where the pastoral relationship cannot be
maintained, the diocesan staff should work on a settlement that takes into
account the length of service of the priest. With the priest’s severance
arranged, the role shifts to making sure the priest has a spiritual director as
well as a therapist who can help sort through the many issues that arise when a
call ends involuntarily. As I shared earlier, such leave taking leaves a crater
not only in the priest's life but in the life of the family also affected by
such outcomes. The Bishop or staff should not do this work, but they can make
sure the priest does have this needed support.
Likewise,
it is time to begin working with the parish on what comes next. Often, this is
to secure an interim rector or vicar who is fully appraised of what has
occurred and who is given the time to do the hard work of creating a safe
environment for the next call, which can take two years or more. The key task
for the interim is to make sure that healthy practices are taught and modeled
and unhealthy behaviors are not abided.
The Next Call—What happens next is
not so easily solved. A priest, injured emotionally and spiritually by a bad
experience with a congregation, may not be in a place to move immediately to a
new call and yet, the priest still needs to earn a living. Reticence to work
with a priest coming off a difficult call can add unnecessary insult to injury.
There are a lot of reasons why a call does not work out, including issues in
the congregation being avoided or hidden in the call process or even the call
being a bad fit from the beginning.
A priest who has been
called by God and had that call affirmed by the Church and been formed for
ministry should not be branded as ineffective and eliminated from calling
processes.
Instead,
this is where careful attention should be paid to the gifts of the priest and
finding the right fit. At the same time proper support needs to be in place as
the next call will certainly set off triggers from the previous conflict. The
priest needs someone to process this with on an ongoing basis so that the new
parish is not held accountable for issues from the previous congregation, even
as the priest seeks to learn from the past.
… … ...
This
brief article can only sketch out some ideas that bear further reflection. I
don’t pretend to have all of the answers and know my colleagues in other
dioceses also struggle to get it right when working with churches and clergy in
conflict. I trust that you can see my bias toward further formation for
vestries and priests as well as support in conflicted situations and, when need
be, following the dissolution of a pastoral relationship.
In practice, the training and support is for
lay leaders and clergy alike as we seek to support healthy interactions in our
churches. There is no question that conflict will arise, but if all know that
priests and lay leaders will find support from their diocese, then we can
lessen the harmful impact of a difficult call.
The Rev. Canon Frank
Logue
is Canon to the Ordinary of the Diocese
of Georgia
The above essay was
written out of a partnership between The Episcopal Women’s Caucus (EWC) and The Network of Episcopal Clergy (NECA.) This project developed following a watershed moment when in January 2014 the
Diocese of Newark passed a resolution seeking that their Bishop appoint a task force
to explore Dignity of Work issues related to clergy and workplace
bullying. This essay was written as part of a collection of essays
written to begin to address the challenge of challenging calls and the issue of
workplace bullying. While the views in this essays are the authors own and we
acknowledge that no one essay will be able to identify all the issues involved,
our hope is that in and through the collection of pieces we might support
what has begun locally in the Diocese of Newark and more importantly, further
the conversation in the wider Episcopal church. As these essays are both sponsored and being
released jointly by both NECA and The EWC please read all the essays at The Episcopal Women’s Caucus blog and Network of Episcopal
Clergy Associations New website.
If you are a clergy
person in the midst of a challenging call or you have gone through it and would
like to see the beginnings of a set of resources that might support you, please
see the NECA Resource Page
If you would like to
write about your own experience of a challenging call or forced resignation for
posting on the Episcopal Women’s Caucus blog please send your essay to motherkaeton@gmail.com
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