The Case for Mobility of Executive Personnel in Church Agencies

              /.1 ~'1ENNONITE BOARD OF MISSIONS AND CHARITIES
, .
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memo to
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date
subiect
Preamble
1711 PRAllUll eTREET, ELKHART, INDIANA 4515115 :::; ~~ :::e:oc:;~-
September 28_, 19~
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'I'he Case 0t'"'11obili t.y of Executi vc Personnel in
Church Agencies
The following paragraphs are a portion of a larger study on adrninistr::itive
ethics in church insti tut::i.ons. }'ror1 one perspective it would be rossible to
argue that the church institution is, just like any other organization, a
morally neutraJ :nechanism established to carr.1 out certain prescr:i.bed functions;
so thGt nc specifically Christian perspective on administrative metbods is
necessary, beyond the ini tia1 decision that a given program is worthy of being
carried out by t.'1.e church ,
At the other extreme, it is also possible to argue that a church institution
needs no administrative procedures at all, ~ince its membership is a brother-hood
and questions can be dealt with as t..1iey arise between Christian brethren ,.
The following par,es a re subrni tted on the c:rcund of the conviction that neither
of the above explanations is sufficient to remove tbe realm of adminL;trative
relationships from the larger context of interpersonal relations to which we
usually refe::c with the label 9 11 ethics:1 • All the more is this the case if, as
obtains among 1'1ermonit.es, specific moral convictions about the use of social
power have traditionally been held (with regard to the use of the courts) gov-ernment
services, economic b0ycott, and the military), honest regard for which
would dernand equal concern for other realms where this same phenomenon of power
is found.
This paper therefore proceeds on the simple assumptiion that the administration
of institutions, especi<?_].]y church institutions, is ,just as -much as any,,.,1:2.:ther
h_~!'.§JL~ ct_ i vi t;t__~!l_ _~ ci~~~!!_i. ~Y.:'J-~§~ c,f pien~~·0r - t'F~-kincC§"r-r~J~}J~~~~h.i.P5-~·=91 __d_i _tr er ~
:!l!_g_~nd_ _~ _glla borating.._ni_wh;i.cl:L.the. . ma teria1_.5f ethicAL.thQuglJ-1..j.__§.__made,, 'fhe
particular fragment of this area chosen for c.eveloprrent here should be looked
at no t only in its own right but as a sample - which was isolated and treated
first for superficial reasons - of that broade· concern for throwing upon
detailed administrative questions the light of concerned ethical and practical
sensi ti vi ty.
When read from certain perspectives, it might seem to the reader that the
present paper represents a rejection of church institutions as such. This
would be a serious misunderstanding of the intended argument. While it is
true that we are far from having thought through all of the implications for
Christians, and especially for Mennonites, of the development of church insti-tutions,
especially of large and powerful ones, the conviction presupposed
here is not that they should not exist but that if they do they should "be
operating in a different way, ·
The following discussion proceeds by laying out theses
and clarity. It should be assumed at every point that
J·:emo--·Whom It Jlay Concern
September 28 1 1964
Par;e 2
the exi~tence of additio~al factors, extenuating circumstances, and eve n
consideration$ whic l- would argue in tbe other direction at certain points . Th<2.
purpose of this paper is t ·'."l provoke study; it does no t pretend to provide a
r eady-written text for a new bylaw to be adopted imr.ediately ..
I t is also with a view to stimul11ting discussion t hat instead of presenting
a f ir.:ished text with c oi1erent and cumulative arr,uments, the f ollowing coru.rnents
'3re. presented in a ser,rnente(; way, leavtng it possible to accept or challen i~e
any sub-paragraph without needing to dissect a long lor,ical chain.
I " The Possibili t y of Dacrensing Efficiency
After the initial period of a year or two needed t o become or iented, i t
can be arfr,ued tlrnt the efficiency of an administrator rises in a fet<J years
to a maximum and then begins visibly t o taper off "
Any executive ,; being human, brings to any given assignment a limited amount
of energy and a limited number of new ideac . Seldom is a person as crea ti ve
and effective beyond the beginning of the second decade of his work as he
was before o One of the reasons for this is that the pressure of work itself'
keeps h:i.m from growing to new levels of imagination. By this i s not meant
simply the limitation of time, which is a serious enough hindrance to growth
in many cases; the deeper fact is that his involvement in ir:;plementing the
ideas he bas been working up in the past by itself tends to keep him from
examining, criticizing. or ultimately rejecting t!~ em .
One of the dinensions of efficiency must be the continuing preparaUon of
future leadership ,, The longer one individual remains in an office, the
less possible it becomes for him to prepare a subordinate for moving in to
greater responsibili t y" The greater the age gap between a man and his
successor, the more difficult will be the transition when it ultima t ely
comes .
IL The Portability: 2f. Executive Skills
It has been demonstrated by students of business management that the capacity
to administer is itself a most flexible gift; it in fact consists in flexi-bil1.
ty, that is, the capacity to meet new situations. The major contribution
an effective manager can therefore make will be greatest as he moves to a
new challenge to which he will be pringing a freshness of insight and a new
set of questions; it is the moving to a new situation which makes such a
person grow and makes his services most fruitful.
Since the gift of an executive is usually not a capacity to work with
exceptional indu~triousness at one old problem but rather his ability to
· size up new situations, once he has worked through a given set of problems,
h~ is producing less than he could4 This bottling up effect is worse in
a ·small denomination.
l1emo--h~1om It Eay Concern
September 28, 1964
Page 3
A man with ten years 1 experience in one area of church responsibili ty i-1ould
bring with hirn tremendous resources to another part of the church 1 s pro g 1~a rr,
or to another appropriate self-supporting occupation; whereas a man who
stays too long in a given assignment and leaves it only under press::re is
less likely to be abl€ to become fruitful in another area.
II L The Danger of Decreasing Openness
The commen ts gathered under this heading nre an extension of t he earli er
discussion of :iefficiencyll; for one of the major characteristics of effi cien t
leadership is its capacity to assimilate new data, ideas, and cri t icisms ,
Quite understandably ·- in fact we should say properly - ; if an administrator
is to do his work with some conviction of callinr:, he must ide nti fy himself
with his major past decisions. This identification will, if t !-..ose decisions
need to be bssically criticized, very easily become defensive and t hereby
get in the way not only of his own freedom of movement~· but of that oi' the
institution.
The administrator is to a large extent in charge of the information wJ-iJ.ch
his governine board can receive about his plans and proposals. He therefore
is able to slant and sift the information he provides, with a view to winning
their approval for his past actions and future proposals. The longer this
continues, U :e less is the board able to back up with facts any opinion
differing from his own. The larger the staff, and the larger the institution
becomes,. the more the staff leader can tend to become omnipotent, keeping
members of the board from having any way to differ from him on the basis o.f
the information he provides them.
This effect is furthered by selective staffing . An administrator is
normally drawn to choose and to promote subordinates who work well with
him because they agree basically with his principles and his methods; t hus
he in turn sifts his own sources of information and ideas by tending to
bring together around hir:i persons who will tell him the kind of thine he
already knows or wants to hear. 'I'hus both he and those who serve and inform
him wilJ j_ncreasingly have a vested interest in not questioning certain of the
assumptions on which they operate.
A major source of stimulation for growth in administrative insights is
meeting other r.eople. Once an administrator becomes well acquainted with
the persons he normally meets in his professional role, there is decreasing
possibility of new encounters and experiences and diminishing opportunity
to back off and look at the entire work from a distance. This phenomenon
is even more likely to be a hindrance in a small denomination; here it is
humanly possible to know practically all the other leaders personally, and
thus proportionately much les.s likely fo;r new problems and pressures to
arise. beyond the gifted manager's contra~.
There should be no reproach involved in our recognition that every individual
has certain strengths or gifts; it is because of these that he is choseno
Eerno--Uhcm It Lay Concern
Ser:.temh-.::r 28, 1964
F.,,:,e 1.1 u.i;;: l
B·:.:. t tL en it follows "ch'.t with th:: pascage of time these r,i:c-c.s wj_ll C;Gco1:.e
"hobbi es" and blind spots. The more speci.f:lcal1y t.l :ey once fit -Led an
individl'aJ. to rceet a given challenc;e, t il e less likeJ.y will the:::·e sp3 ci al
capacities and t endencies be to fj_ t ::.nother later need.
IV . The Cor,trol of f'oKer
A:"i"J ac1rn i n:~strotor, Chr i st inn o~ cthe rwise, is a hv.r%n be i ns subject to
trie ternpta t.i.ons of inefi':Lc5.ency an d t.he h0ngr;:· for power. I do not sa~r,
3S do scrne, t Lc1 t it is inevita·:Jle t i1at alt.an r;n2st accede to t 11ese ternp -
tst ions~ »11.:t a Christis n must recognize tLst they are there, that t~·i. ey er:::
• -1 ' t ' t + h , d • e·vi_, ana · na -.: e ..LOni~-~-~-.1~~1 - ~~.~~sp_~-~~~~-- 9_1n ~ ... ~> .91)~ 9 d"~ n' -~• 01' ~. ra··' c•1 ve p~1·j E:: :r-· s T' •h e
G:i.,..1Ba.ter i3 _t l~1e .. temut.at ion to 11:L1rJ to J.se t hem vJJlovingly---ana·--t.11er-:-e155r-:to-·-ri:21·:e
hT.::--:;-;;-;·t: ~--'.;: ti onl-;.:;-~s- -:;-r;,;;--;~;:;·;·t-;:-l r "' -·c-.-..,·r-i·-s--=t---i' -::;·r· :--l..;-1'~t·~,;~·c·.;-r. 0 11 g'· t to b0 _r·t -; r-;: .•.. ·r, ~., 1 • .• MI - "·"-' _,_ 1,,,• :.,..t. - • --~.) .J.._ •• l.J ... ~J.J. (.,.. \.... C 1.L. • CJ. l .,; ,.. t.J. ; l J. y .l.1 .._" ..L ..... ....,
t )Ji.S.--Yfil.':Y 1\'._a S_2cr._i_JJ 1a t . <t . .Q.h:r:j,_13_t:!.filLi.JJS_\jJ~j;i Ql1_:?l152Y19 b~ __ gonc:_e!"'.n·2d to bs as rr:
i;;uch like the church as possible, namely in t he _ ~leg:r:e_e __Q Lmutual_-con~trol· which
the s·3:_,;en;1 lea.ders -·ot_the_. . boc]v a re able to exercise over one another :·--· ir1 -
secP.J.nr tei;IB"~~ ,~;;;ld srieak- -t:;-·thi-s -a~ a-·· :1~~1e~l~~ ~nd--b~'i~;;~-~ s,;"f!teir.11 : ir1 Vi e J. c) "' - -
church we speak of it <-ls fellowship a.nd tna sharing of ministries.
It is at t h is point ns well that t he special con cerns of a nonresi stant
· Christian tr a di ti on sh ould come to be .s r. Those theological traditions ;;hi ch
c on rnakea positive case for the Christfan's use of +he power· of the swc;:·d
and of ths courts should have less difficulty in justifying as -well the
effects of the use of other kinds of power which hurt others e:nd inte1•f'ere
with genuine comrnunion.
The power which a lone period in office give s to a man increases prvgre~sively
withfae passage of time . Especially as he bs-;:;ins to "cutlive11 in off:i ce his
colleagues, his initia l board members, and ~ 1 is i mmediate subordinates} .such
2n ind:Lvicual begins to dispose of a unique fund of knowledge and r elati cn -
ships wh ich it is increa singly di .i'ficult for ar:y board or any of his sub-ordinates
to counteract. The more 11 1echnicaln skill (language!' forej _gn
experience, mathe~11atical or le gal know-hm-1) is involved in the job, the more
effectively is the executive insulated from effective criticism ,
All of the above discussion has proceeded Hi thout any reference to the
actual subject matter of administrative decisions, the issues bej_ng decided "
It must, however, further be recocnized that the longer an individual is ::i.n
a given position or the longer he expects to remain there,. the greater wiJ.l
be the tendency for administrative decisions to be illuminated by his interest
in "building an empire". A person whose 11 life expectancy" in a given office
is · 1ess extended will . be less likely to identify his own sense of fulfilment
with the development of program, and will therefore be freer to decide issues
on their merits.
· Not oniy will he be freer to decide an issue on its merits~ h: will_ b~ more
concerned both in decision and in implementa+ion, to act in 1ull. liaison
with his 6olleagues. A man expecting 15 - 20 ye11rs in office can keep his
decisions to himself, as he will hnve time to carry. them through • . A man
expecting 10 - 15 yeArs may share with the few trusted lieutenants he trains
Viemo---~'..711 0111 It l~a:; Concern
September 28, 198~
:FaLe S
t o C<-H"t'Y on after hi1~: .. J.t ma n oi tl1 :e s s time in exe cutive co1:treil cJill ~X:_
the inte rest of the ccntinui t y of his cont:cibution:3 be for ced (to the gcod
~-·--· ----- -- -- ----~---.:::.;._ -·- --- \ o f a ll) only t o initiate such polide~3 a ,._, t he whole teara (facul ty .: st::iLC )
::::m1 urnie1°stard, &pprove, ar<d carry on. His workin g wi th the whole team i"ri.lJ_
i mprove the qua li t y of decis ions re3che d and incre;3 se t heir v iabili ty "
T!:6 f:J ct c-rs spoken to 8bove are all simv:ty built into the situa tior: an d
plague aDy fin ite person. \fuen frorn the point of view of Christian the olo ~y
~9 realize that Na n is sinfully prone to fall into t empt ation, this e dds
:l.il addi t ional fa ctor to the picture. \-Je tht;s should think of the brother
:'er: a le.s dership r e sponsibility as a perso n facing certain very sped.fie
tempt0 tions and one v1ho £urthermore is obliged t o face sorie of t herr; ·h·:it h-out
all of the resources of frate1·nal counsel 1o1; iic:1 are gei:eralJ.y ?"'.el.r.l to
t.e necessary for Christian faithfulness . For the best of men the c~ .=:re
serious temptations; fo r other·s they have been a posj.tive source oi' e vj_l
effect in the rn:i.nistry of 2n ins ti tu ti on ,
!·i;:.rnager;-ent pB tterns developed by American business have about them ver;}'
J.i ttle of the 11 ccmrnuntty" dimension which would make of them fa}.thful
crgans of a n church:' :mentali ty. The only logical conclusion is t hat i -~
is unloving toward one 1 s bro the r t o leave him for long standing alon e ~~ he
p:.:--ey of such pressures o
VL The Hode of Aup:ication
- .. ,r~· -- ••--~--~. .
If the Gbove considerations have sorne validity, it would seem to be t he
responsibility of any Chr1stian agency to take formal and structural
measures to deal with tbs problem identified here o Cert ainly one of tha
fund.!1.:nental functions of any ins ti tuUon is to perpetuate i t~;elf' o Ce;.· t a inly
one of' the bnsic rneans cf doing this is the rer:ewa l of executive leadersh:i_ p<
If therefore there ic not some normnl and formally structured way of dealii1g
Vi i t h tfij_s problen:, we must say tha t the structure of t hat institution is
defi cient.
The effect of this flaw in the organization of institutions which do not
provide carefully for ei:ecut.i vr:: mobility is the development of major c r ises
i;-rhen a change is forced , Al though in extreme cases such crises may be tte
only remaining solution, they are usually a source oi' harm both to the
institution and to the individuals involved.
We should remember that church institutions do not dispose of all of the
built-in che~k~ and balances which are present in the world of businesso
If in business an executive is increasingly ineffective, this can be measured
rather soon and rather objectively by a financial scale. The same is the
case in a "secular" educational, medical, or publishing enterprise; the free
enterprise econoxey has its oi-m regulators~ We hesitate, and rightly so, to
let the :teffectiveness" of- a church agency be measured by such impersonal
criteria; but then the absence of these criteria obligates us to be propor-tionately
mor,e careful in having some other way of sensing a need for changeo
l ':e rn o- - \1il:on It ; '.11y Concern
t) epternbet~ 28 s· 1964
I-'ste 6
a) It is irr1port c~ nt fo1~ the concern for r;:obi. lit:J' to be st at -~;. t cr;{; i i:S-1.
to be written into byl.sws !' rnernonmda of 2greer.ie nt or other un d e ~~ -­stcndings
so t hnt it artses autou.1:..itically and ivithout Ll.1·.ilCT\1 c r rj118 fss: \,
b) 1~. mi ninn1r;; vrovision -.-;oul d seen to be :; fixec f_e rr~ le ngth :ii'
t J:ree to fiv e ~/et:'. rs; J.or;t; Gnou pl: to do a good piece o i' v o:c·l::
and to avoid the perfunctoriness ol an nua l reviews. A prescribe j
p!"'ocedure for review in good time prior- to the end of t l:e t e r m
s ho uld f o r bi r] ext ersio:-i 's being taken for cr anted .
c) A simpler an d s a fer provision would he to fix at a numbsr of ye srs
(preferably r~ ot rnu ci1 over t en) o:c rn axir.~ur:i n ~rnbe:c of ter !:~: s, t Le
total ~os :; ib l e servi.cG in t he top exe cu t ive off ice of 2 ny ch urc h
agency ,
VII " l-:e__.;;xc._.. f.iJ:§.~}.~~9-t;;_ .~:c; !'<:: of top execu~ive position, The cautions being "'xpr-c- s sed
wouJci not apply t.o -·u :e HCf)airniifon· -o~f :1i-1---a-ge-ricy when he doe s not car ry a omrnis--
trative responsibili t i es, nor would it apply in t he same wsy to subordina te
execut ives$ who s :t.ilJ aY'e under other sorts of control.
The e xecutive posi ti.en s of which we spe<ik are _t~_os~.~!1J-~.~_h.~!-'.!:t-_.to_ AsL.'-dfo
~1P~ 2nd i'il:ii'JE.j_. _~ nd ._w; ilLthe_ _s p_e_nd:Log_oLmo:ney. 'fhis same concen1 i;oulc
t~_!:'ore not a.pr.1Y~.- !:.'?"_honor_if.'iq _ o~j' i. ce_s or t o aF,encies ~:~liose-oniy~purT;o-se i .~i
c2-:- 2 ~citn?_tt.~1 , nor to executiv9s who function merely as the corTe s ponding
3 nd re~c_C'._r._dJJ,HL~£J'~,r.'! of rrroups rnakin g all theL· decisions colh:cti ·ve2.y
( 11 such as the 11 dean" in a European university), nor t o members of collect:i.ve
leadership bodies (c]J.Y;r::c p_ ~E:-1i~;c~) .
a) The fj_rst g er~sa:tl.£~p<~~r who creates a n insti tu.tion aro und hir:i-self
sho uld be an exce_r!-tion; for as long as he is p rese nt~ the ager:c:17
which reflects hi-s -pe'.f.sonali ty will be and properly should be respon:..
s ive to his visionc
b) There can also be a case made for extendinc the term of r t;:::;ponsibiU-ty
:in fields v!hich call for a high degree of technical proficiency :i.n
science, language, etc.; but usually the place for t hese technical
capacities are needed is not at the top a dminis trat ive level, o:i.· if
they are, there ere probably subordimite s being trained who could
also replace such a person within ten years (if he is doing a competent
job).
c) 1.Jhere most exceptional and indispensable gifts would be lost to a
work by the application of regular rotation procedures, it would be
preferable to create ad hoc a special nerp_eri tus consl!lg~pt" or "co-optedn
personal post for the indispensable person, than to delay the formal
turnover. -
The executiv~ positions of which we speak, it should be remembered, might
· also include J56sitions of ultimate decision-making responsibility even' if
they are not remunerative offices. The chairman of a local congregation: if
he has final power over pastoral employment, would be such a position.
•I
I '
1'1erno--Wborn It Mav Concern
September 28, 19'6h
JJg ge ?
Certa inly an opeil and objective appreisal of t his problem, especially en
the pa:ct. o.f pe:rsons who h<lve been long in one ·posit ion, is made dLf'i':Lcul t
by -the crnotion2l Height of the :i.dea of n retirement" or n demotiorJ'1 , vfo I:.::ed
·::.c develop serious aJ. ternative s to "reti:rer.ient '!, in -Uie s8nse of 11 r'eas.::-:i ..: ;'.;-
t1!ent n; a worker after 65 or 70 would be given a newl y defined task, eithe:-·
a SI'leille:c portion of his former J'.'t;spcr:sibilit.y or something quite n.;.~ i: .
Pe~:hBps setU.ng i.n motion ~'::uch e. r·edefi:nj_t ion for the ags of diminis hi ng
;,~esp onsib:U.itj.es Flight also mak::: it ensie1· for a similar not:i.on t o bc::come
c; c ceptabJ.e to yo:.mger exe.cutives with a lon g psriod of great effect ivene~; s
still b ef·o:re ·t hem ,