First, church leaders comprise a single team that works for unity and in unity.
One of the most clarifying principles I’ve discovered is that great church leaders do not withhold vital information from one another, even under the pretext of confidentiality.
In fact, healthy teams proactively share information when doing so protects or promotes church health. Are you in a leadership role? If you can help your church prepare for a difficult reality, correct a wrong, avoid further damage or address an unhealthy attitude, it is your responsibility as a leader to help it happen.
Like most principles, unity principles can be stretched beyond reason or justification. No church benefits from a tattle-tale culture. There is information that need not be shared because the timing isn’t right, the stakes aren’t high or because a resolution is nearly complete.
However, information that enables leaders to better protect or lead the church should be shared out of a sense of obligation.
Granted, it can be difficult to know the difference! But if you have wise leaders, they know the difference!
If you’re unsure, give your supervisors an overview, first with redacted names, then ask if they need more detail. If not, you’ve been discreet. If so, they will seek more information. Your leaders will know you are sensitive to the church’s health. You will know you didn’t inappropriately sit on information leaders need. Let your leaders help resolve your confidentiality dilemmas.
Psychology isn’t my area of expertise (I doubt I fully recognize my own motives). But it appears to me some church leaders treat information like currency, holding it back for murky reasons. Some personality types are prone to building personal networks (or even fan bases), even if it must be done at the expense of the overall ministry. This is subconscious for some but intentional for others.
When you accept a leadership role in a church, your personal calling and influence never outweigh your responsibility to those who provided that context. Unless those who lead you are the source of obvious wrongdoing, share the insight you gain. All of it. That’s unity.
Second, ignoring or hiding dysfunction (especially by other leaders) damages the church.
Ironically, holding back information in a misguided attempt to protect people and their privacy often backfires when the truth comes to light. More damage is done. More trust is lost. More momentum is sacrificed.
Here are some of the invalid reasons church leaders give for failing to communicate openly about dysfunctional church members or other leaders:
