Commentary: Downsizing without destruction

Have you ever been downsized? It hurts the person who is downsized, their family, other employees and even bosses who have a deep, compassionate spirit.

Just think what happens when you add in one more element—a congregation. When your budget becomes a straitjacket, one thing you confront is the possibility of downsizing.

Staff downsizing can happen for various reasons, including economic necessity, as well as membership and attendance decline. Staff downsizing happens when unbalanced finances seem to leave no choice but to downsize staff.

Wading into the pool of staff downsizing is like stepping into a body of water full of sharks or a war-torn highway full of IEDs.

One difficulty is the motive of influential people for downsizing specific staff. Typically, the person they want to downsize is one who is not their favorite.

The favorites of various groups often are untouchable. Their supporters see no rationale for downsizing them. Staff who are the least-favorite are seen as expendable and good candidates for downsizing.

It is difficult to downsize staff on strategic principles and logical explanations, much less spiritual discernment. It almost always is based on subjective perceptions, the personality of staff, and the size and passion of their support groups.

Then there is the situation of the staff themselves. Their life and ministry issues impact their openness to downsizing. This has a direct impact on whether they go quietly or disrupt the fellowship of the congregation based on personal goals and perspectives.

Think through the following questions about staff you are prepared to downsize: How old are they? How long have they been on staff? How vital is their role to the congregation? Can anyone else fulfill their role? How spiritually and emotionally mature are they? How co-dependent are the staff on their role in their congregation for personal value? How deep is their sense of entitlement that leads them to believe they have a right to their ministry position? What is going on in their lives that may be negatively impacted by downsizing?

What is their needed and long-term financial situation? Do they have other sources for insurance coverage? How spiritually and emotionally mature are their support groups?

Warning! Many thoughts that go through your mind may not be legitimate, legal criteria for who is downsized. Consult with legal and human resource professionals.

Downsizing in congregations, because they are organisms and not organizations, needs to be done differently than it would be in an organization. In organizations, secrecy, surprise and swiftness often are tools of the process. Legal and human resource advisers may recommend this methodology.

In organisms, openness, trust and healthy transition are tools of the process. Healthy ministry demands unconditional love. When a congregation must downsize staff, the process must be designed, shared with the staff first, then with the congregation and voted on as needed.

Therefore, everyone knows what process is being followed and what the steps are for the process. If partici-pants are emotionally and spiritually mature, this will work. If participants are not emotionally and spiritually mature, or congregations have a conflict intensity that is unhealthy, this may not work.

If participants are emotionally and spiritually mature, congregations will deepen spiritually and grow more Christlike through staff downsizing. If participants are not emotionally and spiritually mature, congregations will reject spiritual discernment during the season of staff downsizing and focus on unhealthy patterns of relationship that demand their way or the highway.

George Bullard is strategic coordinator for The Columbia Partnership (The ColumbiaPartnership.org) and general secretary of the North American Baptist Fellowship. (ABP)