How church members can abuse pastoral staff members through petty criticism

The adage "familiarity breeds contempt"  can be true in the smaller churches because people often develop a personal relationship with their pastoral staff members. This has both positive and negative effects. Close relationships are positive because they create a basis for effective ministry. When the church staff knows the people, this knowledge opens the door for specialized ministry. The staff can then minister specifically and individually to each person in the congregation.
The negative effect of familiarity is that people, because they know their staff member's weaknesses and shortcomings, can become critical. For example, in one church during a committee meeting, one man leveled accusations about the quality of ministry being carried out by a staff member in which he had no direct evidence, nor did he try to help the pastoral staff member improve the area of ministry being maligned. Such petty criticism undermines the morale of the pastoral staff members and has a profound effect on their family and may eventually drive them from ministry.


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