The Weight of Firing a Pastor: Why Termination is the ‘Death Stroke’ for Ministry

A number of ministers have left comments saying they were terminated by a church several years ago and have not been able to get another pastoral position since. “Search committees are suspicious,” they say. “If this guy is so good, how come he’s unemployed?” One said, “It’s as though there’s a black mark by my name.”

One brother called to ask if I would be a reference for his application to a fast-food restaurant.

The quickest way to put a minister out of the ministry permanently is to fire him or her from a church. Because that’s often the result.

For that reason …

The only time to vote to fire a minister is when you want to put him or her out of the ministry altogether.

Now, there are times when that should be done.

There are men and women in the ministry who should be out of work, and the sooner the better.

A Baptist pastor I knew frequented casinos to gamble and would order alcoholic drinks in restaurants, making no secret of either. He needed to be canned, and he was.

A Baptist pastor I know of (but never met) was a practicing homosexual who made overtures toward the young men in the congregation. He was quickly terminated and sent on his way, as he should have been.

So, what is a church to do if the congregation wants to get rid of a preacher but not disable his or her ministry for the future?

Here are seven thoughts on that.

1. Make sure it’s “the whole congregation” and not just a few powerful individuals.

In most cases, when someone (or a committee) tells the preacher, “A lot of people are unhappy with you,” or, “You no longer have the support of the congregation,” they are dead wrong. In most cases—I have no stats to back this up, it’s my strong conviction—a few people have decided the preacher has lost his effectiveness and needs to go. But they are often wrong.

2. What you should never, ever do is offer the pastor a severance package if he or she will go quietly.

That smacks of manipulation of the worst sort.

3. Another form of pressure is to tell the pastor, “If the church votes to fire you, you get no severance.”

My response is, “Oh? Who said so? You? And who are you to be making that decision for, the congregation?”