How to Sabotage Your Church

Bob Perry is the President of the Organizational Health Associates with extensive experience troubleshooting congregational conflict. Perry, in the vein of the Screwtape Letters (except without all the demons), wrote a recent article called “How to Sabotage Your Church” In this article, he offers advice in how to disrupt the unity and cause division in your local church. He then offers some guidance for church leaders confronting these issues.

He writes that if you really want to sabotage your church, then do the following (I added the last two thoughts):

1. Threaten to leave the church. (the spoiled brat syndrome).

2. Threaten to withhold your offerings. (Using stewardship to manipulate others)

3. Create unhealthy triangles. Involve third parties in your conflicts with others. When you have a conflict with another, instead of continuing to work on the problem, recruit allies and marshal your forces to destroy the other.

4. Sow negativism – fostering a “here we go again” whenever problems or issues arise. Instead of keeping unhealthy criticism to oneself, you should make an effort to call others and share with them your negative attitude as well.

5. Become the “clearinghouse” for complaints. That is, become the one to whom people go to express their negativity, realizing that you will cultivate and encourage their negative spirit through listening to and affirming their views.

(I add two more)
6. Avoiding confrontation at all costs. Any problems will recede and finally go away if we simply ignore them and pretend that they don’t exist.

7. Centralize power in the hands of one. A sincere church leader will never misuse sole authority.

Other suggestions?