Excerpt:

John was the senior pastor of a large Midwestern church. He was facing a possible $150,000 shortfall in the church budget due to an economic downturn in the  area. He knew that some hard decisions would have to be made. Some of these decisions would be driven by the shortfall coupled with ministry philosophy shifts. Other decisions would be driven by the hard realities of personnel, whose skill sets no longer fit with the retooled positions.

When the smoke cleared at the church, two full time and two part-time people had been let go. After two contentious town hall meetings, John realized that this was a congregational storm that would take time to weather, with people second-guessing decisions. Paradoxically, this storm has unfolded just when ministry numbers and general response to ministry has trended
upward.

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