MONSTER CHURCHES?

Fact: Some congregations chew up pastors and spit them out every 2-3 years. We’ve all seen the tragedy of “Monster Churches.”

What leads me to believe it is the church’s fault? There are plenty of cases where the church undoubtedly has a problem. That is particularly evident in cases where:

• The problem occurs over and over for a long period of time with a multitude of pastors. In these cases, the only common denominator is the congregation.
• Pastors leave the church to find warm welcome and fruitful, long-term ministry in another congregation. When this happens, the change in church makes all the difference. The pastor remains the same.
• The congregation denies that any problem exists at all. Pride is a powerful deceiver.

A church may have experienced all three of these factors and still not be the source of the problems. But that would be the exception, not the rule.