Working in a local church has it's ups and downs and this week has certainly had its downs. I'm not pointing the finger at anyone it's just been one of those things but it has made me think about issues of employment within the local church. I haven't really found much on the web about this but i'm starting to feel increasingly uneasy about the notion that people should be employed by a local church. yes i know it's standard practice (or should that be practise) all over the world but for me it has produced difficulties and i'm sure i'm not alone. the main difficulty i think i have is that what i expect of an employer is different to what should be provided by a church. for example whereas the church should treat it's members with flexibility, love and compassion, an employer needs to maintain some degree of professionalism so that both parties no what is expected.
Increasingly i think this is going to be a problem unless local churches become stricter more strict about what they want from an employee (youth worker/lay worker/pastor/caretaker etc) and provider greater levels of pastoral care for workers. i was delighted to read this article on the role of the slacker as a church leader because i think this model is becoming increasingly important, but it will also create more clashes between new and old and more people frustrated by the church as employer...
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