Church leadership is messed up in the United States. Broken. Egocentric. Toxic. Nonexistent. Dysfunctional. That's the way it feels to lots of commentators and professional ministers like me. It's such a big deal that talking about it is kind of like watching replays of major racing accidents. You just can't look away.
How else can one explain the great popularity of books and podcasts that do autopsies on some of the most dysfunctional church leadership structures of our day? (For those with an interest to explore what I mean, you can check out a few examples at the bottom of this article.)
I have a much younger friend named Jacob. He served four years in the Marines before going to college. Once, he was telling me about being part of a flight crew for those giant refueling planes, something like a KC-130. It was fascinating to hear about flying with that huge plane all across Europe.
As Jacob shared, I realized something shocking yet crucial about the way the US military operates. These crews were comprised of 20-year-old Marines. Think about this. The US military entrusts multi-million-dollar equipment to young people in their twenties. There was no general on the plane. No one was micromanaging their decisions. These young, everyday Marines were given tremendous responsibility. And this is in the military widely considered the best in the world.
By contrast, most churches have a hard time sharing power and authority with people outside the "official leadership" of the church. Not just 20-year-olds are often excluded. Anyone who doesn't have a title tends not to have a say. Might this point to a deadly problem? Read on for the rest of the story.
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| a KC-130J aircraft, most likely operated by a 20-something pilot |
Within my tribe, Churches of Christ, there's a lot of hand-wringing about leadership. I understand a lot of this consternation. Some of it, though, is deeply misguided.
I'm on a quest this summer in Europe. My sabbatical is focused on learning how to help our churches get unstuck. One thing about European churches is that they've been desperate for answers longer than we have in the US. Many of us have held onto the flawed hope that we're just one change away from turning the corner. We have failed to accept our plight, though Covid and recent divisions in our society have finally brought that into focus.
Desperation sometimes leads to cynicism and inaction—you can see that settling into some churches in the US now, too. But sometimes, desperation can be the mother of all invention. That invention is what I'm here to see and discover for myself.
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| St John's Parish Church in Woodley, Reading, England |
A big piece of the problem with church decline and dysfunction clearly has to do with leadership. I'm hearing this in various ways as I meet with a special group of church leaders in England. They are working to make their churches more effective in ministry and outreach. Here's their admission: They are not magic leaders who can fix everything. Unlike most people who are often obsessed with gifted leadership, these folks see the weakness in our fascination with the hero-leader as THE answer.
First an important caveat. Some would suggest that the problem with leadership in the American church is that it is too masculine, too white, and too old. In 2019 in my tribe, Sara Barton gave an excellent keynote address when she spoke about the need to "raise the roof" and fix the building. She was talking about the sickness of a leadership system that excludes women. You can listen to
her talk here.
It could be that replacing or even balancing out male leadership with female leadership might change some things dramatically, perhaps for the better. The same argument could be made about the need for more diversity in leadership. (One well-known American author recently quipped quite arrogantly and erroneously that being a white, male author makes it difficult to be on the New York Times bestseller list. People were quick to point out the majority of authors on the NYT bestseller list are in fact white males.) More diversity in leading roles might help things a lot.
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| Eucharistic Worship Service in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, England |
But here's the issue most people are missing. Even with this talk about new faces in leadership, it neglects what's wrong with common thinking about church structures. People are way too focused on finding and developing extraordinary leaders. It's magical thinking to believe that one great leader can fix everything—male or female, white, Black, Asian or Hispanic.
Simply put, there just aren't that many extraordinary leaders. The history of humanity bears this out. You may have a once-in-a-generation leader who does tremendous good, but that can all be quickly undone by the five lousy leaders who follow. If nothing else, history ought to teach us that we are unwise to put our faith in singular, out-in-front leaders.
Back to the Armed Forces. If you've followed the war in Ukraine, you may have read the news that Ukrainian forces have killed around 20 Russian generals during the war plus dozens of other senior officers, mostly in the early weeks. That's a staggering number. I've read quite a bit to try to understand it. Apparently, the Russians use an antiquated command structure that leaves decision making only in the hands of the most senior officers. This system might seem wise, but its weakness shows up in heavy combat like what they've experienced in Ukraine.
In other words, the Russian style of military leadership produces lots of dead generals. Just like in the American church. The American church is so filled with dead "generals," ministers who were placed in the wrong positions and of whom too much was expected. This system was bound to eventually fail, destined to cause heavy casualties among paid and unpaid leaders with special titles. Our system allows for the wanton killing of our leaders because we misunderstand true leadership.
Contrast this with how the US Armed Forces runs things. NATO countries all have this same structure. They prioritize placing decision-making into the hands of ordinary soldiers. As a result, people like my friend Jacob and his crew of 20-year-old Marines get to make key decisions about their missions as they fly multi-million-dollar aircraft across the world.
Ordinary leaders versus extraordinary leaders. This is what I'm hearing in England, and it could be a key discovery for American churches today. We need to find ways to put the church and its mission back into the hands of "ordinary" people who have various leadership skills. Instead of scouring high and wide for extraordinary leaders—or engaging in constant battles over who's allowed to be called a leader—let's try making church more organic so it empowers our everyday leaders to "do church" and change the world one person at a time.
More stories to come from the front lines...
You can investigate church leadership run amok by looking at these examples: Christianity Today's 11- or 12-part podcast called the "Rise and Fall of Mars Hill" which examines (perhaps too graciously) the ego-driven Mars Hill Church in Seattle that shot to fame and crashed just as spectacularly. There is also Kristin Kobes Du Mez's bestselling book Jesus and John Wayne that takes the task the toxic culture of many American churches; most of my colleagues have read and loved this book. Or then there's the BBC documentary about the global church Hillsong and some of its darker stories. Even my own brief sketch using Phil Collins' 1992 hit song "Jesus He Knows Me" is the most-watched video on our church's YouTube channel. None of these things are pretty.
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