How to Deal with Conflict Among the Church Board

Every church board member should clearly understand their roles and responsibilities. Clearly communicated proper roles and responsibilities allow for a pre-shaped culture of change. This culture permits communication of directional shifts to be purposeful in the pastor/board relationship. Conflict among the church board may be more imminent when these steps have been overlooked.

Change is a broad, non-descriptive term. Change also is the cause of massive amounts of stress. These personal events include job change, health change, and death of a loved one. When we mention directional change, these stressor fears may cause instant apprehension even in church. Directional change is an incubator for conflict.

Change or movement are inherent in any living organization, and when a church is growing, change may occur quickly and abruptly, making it more difficult to delay critical decisions. When change happens really fast or when it takes shape too slowly, the occasion for conflict is inevitable. Conflict generally occurs when something, either a relationship, or plan, or motive has changed.

When conflict among the church board is presented, there is a prescriptive biblical solution which provides a proven instruction sheet for resolving conflict.  In this session, the Matthew 18 process for conflict resolution has been divided into three clear steps.

In this video:

We demonstrate how conflict among the church board should be handled within two distinct categories of board members. Then we suggest six proven tips for mitigating conflict and what Christian leadership should look like in these times. Finally, we describe how a lead pastor can be a pragmatic and spiritual leader in times of conflict.