Church Leadership Needs Integrity and Accountability
Drawing from Abraham Lincoln’s leadership in Team of Rivals, this article calls elders and church staff to lead with humility, patience, trustworthiness, and transparency. Healthy church leadership requires team-minded accountability, careful decision-making, and a shared commitment to integrity.
- Church leaders should model humility, grace, accountability, and responsibility.
- Leadership teams must make careful decisions together and support consensus.
- Integrity grows through trustworthiness, transparency, and mutual accountability.
By Tom Ellsworth
In Doris Kearns Goodwin’s classic study, Team of Rivals, newly elected President Abraham Lincoln invited his opponents for the Republican presidential nomination of 1860 to become part of his cabinet. Lincoln had to earn their respect as most considered him ill-suited for the presidency, but he was a master at working with people. He was humble, gracious, conciliatory, humorous, and readily apologetic when wrong. He gathered as much information as possible before making a decision, but when made, he took unwavering responsibility for that decision.
Prior to delivering his speeches publicly, Lincoln read them to individuals and sought their critique. When frustrated with other’s lack of leadership proficiency, he frequently penned strongly worded letters but waited until his frustration had cooled before sending the correspondence. Often the letters were never signed, sent, or saved. In anxious moments, Abe took center stage with a humorous antidote to ease the stress. As his nickname intimated, Honest Abe’s integrity and accountability made him one of the most revered U.S. presidents in history.
What the Church Needs from Leaders
The church needs:
- Leaders who exemplify what it means to be humble, gracious, conciliatory, humorous, and readily apologetic when wrong.
- Leaders who gather as much information as possible before making a decision, but when made, take unwavering responsibility for that decision.
- Leaders who do not react in angry frustration but wait for calmer logic to prevail.
In short, the church needs elders and staff who reflect integrity and accountability with one another.
When Leaders Go Rogue
Unfortunately, sometimes individual members of the staff or eldership go rogue. With no accountability or integrity, they seek to impose a self-serving agenda on the leadership and congregation. During my years of ministry, I’ve witnessed occasions where one elder rules with an iron fist and others in leadership cower to his dictates. I’ve seen staff lead roughshod without regard for the input of elders. Such irresponsible actions result in congregational discord and division instead of “unity in the faith.” If author Charles Marshall got it right that, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking,” then in the church, integrity is doing the right thing all the time, even when it isn’t easy. There are no short cuts to integrity or accountability!
So how might church leadership encourage integrity and accountability?
Be a Team
I saw a bumper sticker on a car that read: “It’s all about me.” What kind of person puts a phrase like that on their bumper? It’s one thing to think it; it’s quite another to advertise it. In this self-absorbed culture, it can be difficult to remember that church leadership is not all about me and my opinions. I get it; Christians have strong opinions about the church. But a leader must never bully his way through, trampling on the ideas of others. The plurality of elders should be a safeguard against a dictatorial elder. God desires a united leadership team through whom his Spirit can work.
True leadership is never me-centered. The church is to be God centered and if God owns everything in this world (which he does), then our leadership roles belong to him as well. We must remember that leadership is not all about me; as a matter of fact, it’s not about me at all. Hold one another accountable! If a would-be leader is not a team player, they shouldn’t be on the team.
And speaking of being a team, if decisions are made after careful research, but that decision doesn’t reflect your opinion, get on board anyway! An elder or staff member who can’t support the leadership consensus is likely divisive. Be a team player.
Be Thorough
Integrity demands that a pending decision be carefully vetted. Leadership decisions must be made in a timely fashion but not hastily. Thoroughly explore the options so the best possible decision can be made. Once made, consider every possible objection or question that might be posed. Make a list of frequently asked questions so that when a church member asks about the decision, the same consistent answer is shared. When leadership cannot answer questions regarding a recent decision, they lose credibility and accountability with the congregation. Be thorough.
Be Trustworthy
Build a reputation for being trustworthy. During my years at Sherwood Oaks Christian Church (Bloomington, Indiana), we set guidelines to help staff be above reproach. Many leadership teams do the same. Have windows in the office door for accountability. Don’t ride alone with a member of the opposite sex. Apprise your administrative assistant on your whereabouts. Don’t counsel anyone in the church building alone, etc. Such rules don’t guarantee trustworthiness, but they help. I believe elders should do their best to protect the staff from costly mistakes that could ruin individual and congregational reputations. Elders, too, should serve under similar rules. In leadership, we are only one accusation away from ruin. The accusation may even be false, but the damage is done. Leaders must be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2). If you do not lead with integrity and hold one another accountable, how will you be trusted by the church family?
The opposite side of that same coin is equally vital—learn to trust. Don’t keep one another at arm’s length; extend trust and confidence. Leadership needs to be both trusting and trustworthy.
Be Transparent
While some leadership issues must remain confidential, be as transparent with the church family as possible. For all our efforts to safeguard staff and be trustworthy, one of our staff members crossed the line of moral integrity. Without divulging intimate details, we informed the congregation about the staff member’s departure and the standard for leadership integrity. The congregation expressed gratitude for the transparency. One member expressed it this way, “Thank you for not sweeping this under the rug.” Transparency also halts the rumor mill. When everyone knows the truth, gossip dies.
Secretive staff and elders create suspicion. Such suspicion chips away at leadership integrity. When the staff is suspicious of the eldership and vice versa, unity is impossible. Suspicion in church leadership is a prison. I like what Zig Ziglar once said: “Integrity gives you real freedom because you have nothing to fear since you have nothing to hide.” Be transparent.
Living Up to the Light
I’m reading Team of Rivals for the third time; I learn more about integrity each time through. On one occasion, Lincoln commented, “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” Wow! What if those of us in church leadership thought that way? Obviously, Lincoln wasn’t a perfect leader, but he ably modeled characteristics that would enhance leadership in the church. Lincoln set the bar high for integrity and accountability. He said, “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have. Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.”
We serve the Light of the World; we are bound to be true and live up to his divine example. May our commitment transform our promise into being accountable leaders of integrity.
Author: Tom Ellsworth
Tom Ellsworth has served as pastor of Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana, for nearly 40 years. He has seen the church grow from an attendance of about 80 people to more than 3,000 on two campuses. His retirement, originally slated for April, was postponed until the church resumes in-person services.
