Many churches today are being forced to let staff members go.
This is a tough call, one no senior pastor wants to make. But senior pastor, if you do have to let go of a staff member, I’d suggest you realize that there are some phrases that sting when voiced, phrases that are often misconstrued as lessening the blow.
1.”This is going to make it possible for you to find the right place for you at this time.”
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What the staff member is probably thinking is, “I thought we all prayed about this when you hired me. You even asked me if I’d be a long-timer or if I’d be moving on when something better came my way. We both thought this was the right place for me. Please don’t act like God has a greater plan for my life. You’re just using God-talk to rationalize the decision you and the elders have made.”
2. “This really hurts me to have to do this.”
When a senior pastor says this to the person they’re dismissing, it sounds as though they’re asking the person being dismissed to minister to them.
The person who needs to be ministered to is the person who’s already wondering what their family will do when the severance package runs out.
