Fake Jobs

Let’s get right to the point.

Do you have someone in your congregation who has been given a job title and responsibilities… except that position does not exist anywhere in your documentation and will never exist again once that person leaves it?

You may have created a beast of a problem.

These positions are almost never formed because it’s needed; a needed position goes through proposals and reviews and sometimes bylaw revisions, and it is well described and documented and straightforward in terms of duties, lines of accountability, and processes.

Unfortunately, these informally-created positions are created to out of a necessity to keep the peace. And that’s because someone is causing issues in the congregation and giving them fake positional power is meant to placate them. Often that position is something like ‘assistant treasurer’ or ‘second vice president’ or some other official-sounding title. Sometimes those people are given actual power, like speaking for the congregation publicly, or signing checks, or other organizational duties.

And that just never ends well.

Because telling someone you’ll give them power to make them stay/keep them pledging/calm them down actually feeds what’s caused the problems in the first place.

Giving a troublemaker fake positional power can mean the end of successful governance. Because boards may change, but that person’s gonna hold onto that fake position first as long as possible, and use that power to get their way.

I’m speaking bluntly today, I know, without much snark. But I’m remembering what happened several years ago with a congregation. I worked with a number of years ago. Back then, I thought it was a one off.

But in the last month, I’ve had several conversations with colleagues who report that these positions - these made up positions - are causing problems with their leadership. And I’m a little shook that we’re dealing with this more broadly.

Beloveds. Giving a troublemaker more power is never the way to resolve the trouble. You’re causing more work for yourself and for your successors. This is one of many ways a congregation finds itself with a toxic culture, And it may take years to figure out how to fix it.

There will be fallout. When you have had enough and that person gets called out and their fake position dissolved, they will not go quietly. At the very least, when that person flounces, and they most certainly will, Divisions may occur between congregants and you learn how a lot of things got put on that fake position and there’s a lot to do to regain proper control and clean up the messes. It may even destroy a board or a ministry.

And there’s no getting around the fact that people with unofficial power in these made up positions use it to build coalitions. I’m sorry. But if you want a healthy system, you have to create solid structures and positive ways to handle messy behaviors. And you have to persist in doing what’s right for the health of the congregation.

Placating never, ever, ever works.

You may lose some people. But I suspect there are people who will come back and find they can breathe again, And find the spiritual and communal sustenance they have belonged for.

It will be hard, we know,
And the road will be muddy and rough,
But you’ll get there.

Woyaya.