Jeremy Hoover

_When I transitioned from one church to another, I wanted to leave behind some ideas to help the church in conflict resolution and leadership. It took me quite awhile (over a month) to be ready to write this article. I needed to check my own motives, to put this out for public consumption not for my own benefit or to grind my own axe, but to offer some suggestions to churches in handling high-level conflict (that is, conflict caused by, created by, or within church leadership).

For the right motives, I think churches look past areas of conflict, wanting to see the best in people. But some people are troublemakers, bent on getting into leadership as a way to get their own way, and patterns of previous behavior demonstrate this. In my opinion, people with past histories of divisive behavior need to give an accounting of what they have learned and how they have changed before they ever get appointed to leadership. Leadership in the church should be carefully guarded. After all, leaders are to be overseers who will give an account to the Lord of their oversight of souls (Hebrews 13:17). They are to lead willingly, as examples, not lording it over others. How can one lead with the proper humility, service, and teaching if that person is more concerned with getting their own agenda built in to the church's program? These "leaders" are exposed as the wolves that tear flocks apart (Acts 20:29).

When you, or your church, experience conflict, follow these guidelines to find help:

1. Listen to those you trust and follow up. If a leader or someone else indicates to you that something is wrong, listen to that person, especially if you trust him. In very difficult situations, leaders will not come out with direct accusations. But they may indicate, directly or indirectly, that not everything is as it seems. If this happens, they are looking for help. Follow up and help how you can.

2. When conflict exists, the best thing you can do is be a student of observation. Pay attention to what is happening. Note who is doing the most talking about the problems. Those who talk the most are usually (but not always) the ones who are creating the conflict. The extra talk comes in because they need to firm up their agenda with others and find out who is and is not "on their side."

3. Remember that we all serve God in his kingdom. It is Christ's church, not mine, and not anybody else's. God leads us, and we need to follow him.

4. Most churches have everything they need to move forward. Although many weaker churches have doubts about their ability to self-govern, or of their men to be qualified as elders, they can still hold teachers, preachers, and other leaders accountable to the gospel, to stick to it, to preach and teach it, and to lead by it.

5. Remember that leadership is service towards maturity, not decision-making.

6. Be very slow to appoint to leadership. Observe the "track records" of those who are put up for leadership. Be objective with this, not subjective. If someone has a track record of causing division and church splits in previous congregations, they must be able to give a narrative about why those things happened, what they learned, and how they have changed or what they would do differently. Discuss potential weaknesses with prospective leaders. Real leaders accept blame and responsibility for results and are willing to discuss how they've grown and changed. Fake leaders are not.

This devotional guide examines several different passages about repentance, from Joel to 2 Chronicles to the Gospels.

This is the devotional guide for November 6-12, 2011. Looking at the examples of Hezekiah and Jesus, the guide helps you explore trust in God and learn how to trust God more.

This devotional guide is for October 30-November 5, 2011, and includes questions from Proverbs 30:1-20 and Galatians 5.

This is the devotional guide for October 16-22, 2011. In it, I've focused on the theme of baptism. As you go through this week, you'll learn both why we are baptized and what happens when we are baptized.

How do you respond when someone betrays you? What do you do when your friends turn their backs on you? How deep does your trust in God go?

Use this devotional guide to help you work through Psalm 109 and answer some of these questions.

This is the devotional guide for September 25-October 1, 2011. It's an exploration of the "one another" passages in the New Testament.

This is the devotional guide for September 11-17, 2011. The questions are from Proverbs 6, James 3:13-17, and Ephesians 4:17-32. The theme is centered around gossip and unwholesome speech.

Please share this with others if you find it useful and helpful.

On Sunday, I preached from Colossians 3 on the theme of "How to Grow Spiritually." If you think of spiritual growth as a puzzle, these are the pieces of the puzzle that will enable you to grow spiritually.

In my opinion, if you do these things, you will grow spiritually. Obviously, I am not taking away from the work of God. This is about creating space for God to work. We need to both cooperate with God and build basic foundations for God to work with.

Look over this list. How many of them are you doing? Which are you not doing? How good or consistent are you with them? Is anything missing? What do you think?

1. Attend worship every Sunday.
2. Attend at least one class each week for teaching and fellowship and to model good behavior for others.
3. Read at least one chapter of the Bible each day, reading through books.
4. Record the main idea of each chapter in a notebook and compile, over time, a base of information you can use in your own teaching and understanding.
5. Look for ways to apply the main idea you took from your daily reading.
6. Pray every day over your main idea, for yourself and for others.
7. Always be working on training and teaching one other believer to do these same things.
8. Always be working on mentoring an unbeliever in faith, doing these same things, and teaching by example.

Questions are from Proverbs 4:20-5:6 and Colossians 3:1-17. The focus is on spiritual growth: what is it, and how do we do it.

As usual, please share this with others if you find it useful.