adam ross beach

The Church Thing
My friend Mike got laid off recently and on top of being really good at what he did, he was also encouraging, creative, funny... So my church is without a programming director and it's just weird that another person is gone from there.
A few questions I've been asking myself about all this stuff...

Why was he laid off?

The official reason hasn't been announced yet, though I imagine it will have nothing to do with his performance. Likely to do with a 'restructional' thing.

Was it right that he was laid off?

Probably a stupid question... however, from what I've seen, I don't really understand the hiring or laying-off practices at Lakeview. This has been talked of elsewhere, but the fact that valuable people have consented to more time involvement and less salary to enter into ministry positions at the church, and for whatever reason it hasn't worked out (as in 6 people leaving in the last little while)... well... it doesn't look or feel that great.

Does God work through poor decisions in our best interests?

Yes. However, that doesn't give poor decisions any more luster, and trying to spiritualize the consequence of a churches staffing policy in the interest of making things look better is dead wrong. Of course, that goes for any situation, and I've come to know it in my own life... Any of that 'maybe it was God's will' stuff can quickly get off track. The simplest answer is usually the correct one. A mistake was made - perhaps it was in the beginning of the hiring process - perhaps the laying-off was a mistake - neither is good.

What's up with Lakeview?

Obviously there is a lot of change taking place - it seems we've headed confidently in a few directions only to be stifled in ways that we never anticipated, and perhaps could have avoided - but nevertheless here we are. Change still needs to occur, and thankfully, change is a constant. Yet, it needs to be handled with responsibility and integrity. Progress is coming to a desirable end in a desirable way - and I don't think Lakeview as a church has been progressive in it's entirety. Yet, prayerfully, I think things will - with more difficulty ahead - work out.

Will things work themselves out?

No. They never do. People and effort work things out. And with the leadership we have -the entire leadership (staff and the teams - PAT and SLT) - I am confident that the Spirit is moving in them - and they have the opportunity to work this out. That doesn't mean that mistakes aren't made - yet in the end, my hope is they will be brought up, and dealt with.

That's my church thing...