Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 36

Is Gen Z More Likely to Attend Church Than Millennials? The Surprising Answer

Are the trends reversing? Could younger people return to church in greater numbers? Perhaps. It’s too early to tell, but one researcher gives a little hope. Ryan Burge reported on data indicating Gen Z is more likely to attend church than Millennials and Gen X. While almost a third of this younger generation does not claim a particular religion (the “nones”), they attend religious services at a slightly higher rate than their Millennial and Gen X parents.

More research is needed as this data could be an aberration. Two caveats are in order. First, Gen Z religious attendance has been trending down, not up. Second, not every member of Gen Z is included in this data as some are too young to be present in the measurements. One data point does not make a trend, but this one is worth watching over the next few years.

At Church Answers, we wanted to know more. So we asked a Gen Zer his thoughts. This video is the second installment of a three-part Church Answers YouTube series on Gen Z. Check out our channel to see the other videos.

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Seven Insights from Churches about the Recent Easter Weekend

We’ve done a lot of listening and learning the week after Easter. We at Church Answers are grateful for consulting and coaching clients and for the large community at Church Answers Central.

Though our information is more anecdotal rather than data-based, it is nevertheless insightful. Here are seven key takeaways we gleaned from church leaders about the recent Easter weekend:

1. A surprising number of unchurched persons attended Good Friday services. More churches are offering Good Friday services than in the past. For the first time, we heard that unchurched persons attended these services in surprisingly greater numbers. In fact, some church leaders indicated that they had more unchurched in Good Friday services than Easter services.

2. There seems to be a greater spiritual hunger in the communities the churches serve. Obviously, there is a relationship between the first two points. And while it’s difficult to measure spiritual hunger, church leaders heard enough comments and had sufficient people respond to them the week after Easter to make this observation confidently.

3. Simplicity was effective and appropriate. Fewer church leaders reported that they had major Easter productions or pageants. Their services were simple yet profound. For many churches today, Easter is more of a time of reflection and quiet celebration than a major production.

4. Evangelism was more intentional. The trend about increasing evangelistic intentionality preceded the most recent Easter weekend. But this intentionality continued through Easter. Many church leaders reported more people choosing to follow Christ than they can recall for an Easter weekend.

5. Most churches did not have record attendance. In fact, among our small sample, fewer than one of ten churches reported that this Easter was a day of highest attendance. And seven in ten reported that their attendance was slightly lower than the previous year’s Easter attendance.

6. Easter Sunday attendees were primarily church members. Once again, Easter Sunday seems to be the unofficial reunion day when most of the members show up on the same day. As noted in number one, more churches reported unchurched persons on Good Friday than Easter Sunday.

7. Digital streaming services attendance continues to decline in most churches. This trend continued on Easter Sunday.

Keep in mind that our observations are anecdotal. I do appreciate those who spoke to us, wrote to us, or contributed to the community at Church Answers Central. We would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

What was your Easter weekend like at your church?

Thom

P. S. Consider joining our community at Church Answers. Nearly 2,000 church leaders are with us every day: https://churchanswers.com/join/

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History’s Most Important Biography

I love historical biographies. My family knows that these will always be on my Christmas list. It was no different this past year, and I’m now reading my way through a nice gift I received: a biography of Samuel Adams, the Boston revolutionary. Before that, I read a fascinating biography of King James I, the ruler famous for his role in commissioning the King James Bible, which was first published in 1611.

Because of my love for books like these, I’m naturally drawn to what is certainly the most important biography in history: the biography of Jesus. That’s why I’m excited about God with Us: The Four Gospels Woven Together in One Telling. It’s a captivating new book that looks and feels like a paperback novel. But it’s not a story based on Jesus’ life, with fictionalized embellishment. It is the story of Jesus’ life, teachings, and deeds, told entirely in the words of the four Gospels in the New Living Translation.

God with Us brings the accounts of the four Gospels together into one chronological narrative—from “In the beginning the Word already existed” (John 1:1) to “While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven” (Luke 24:51). And everything in between.

By arranging Scripture chronologically, God with Us helps us experience Jesus’ story the way we’re used to reading biographies—from beginning to end. I just read it, and I found that it opened up new perspectives and confronted me with fresh truths, even though I’ve read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John countless times.

God with Us makes the Gospels highly readable as a single, streamlined story, and it does so without cutting out parts of the biblical text. The books are skillfully interwoven, and only duplicated stories or teachings are taken out.

This is the perfect Bible for use in a variety of settings. It is a powerful tool for evangelism, since it invites seekers—and believers who have trouble finding time to read—to discover Jesus’ story all in one place. Because of this, it’s likely that God with Us will become a valuable tool for outreach (there’s a “Knowing God Personally” section in the back of the book) as well as for devotional use and personal Bible study.

God with Us divides Jesus’ biography into eight chronologically ordered sections:

1. The origin, birth, and childhood of Jesus

2. The preparation for Jesus’ ministry

3. The initial Galilean ministry

4. The Sermon on the Mount

5. Continuation of the Galilean ministry

6. Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem

7. Jesus’ final visit to Jerusalem

8. The post-resurrection

James Barlow, the editor of this fascinating compilation, writes in the introduction:

Why in the world would four simple fishermen suddenly leave their families and their work without hesitation to blindly follow a man walking along the shore whom they didn’t know? . . . In his account, Matthew depicts these four men willing to leave everything behind after hearing Jesus’ simple request: “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”

The answer to this question suddenly came to me as I read the Gospel of John, specifically John 1:29-51. John provides the added insights that John the Baptist had first introduced Andrew and one other disciple to Jesus, and that Andrew had in turn introduced Simon Peter to Jesus. These disciples had spent time with Jesus, thus they knew him when he ultimately called them by the seashore. My entire perspective changed on why they left and followed Jesus. I discovered background and context to the story that was not included in Matthew’s account but could be learned by reading the Gospels collectively. That raised my curiosity level significantly as to whether there were other aspects of the individual Gospel accounts that might be confusing if not read within the perspective of the four Gospels as a whole.

That curiosity led to the painstaking work that produced God with Us, which now serves to bring insights and clarity to the reading of the Gospel accounts like never before.

While it’s wonderful that God with Us enhances believers’ enjoyment and understanding of the Gospels, we’re even more excited about how clearly the Good News is being presented to those who are just meeting Jesus and learning about the gift of salvation for the first time.

This book is a clear and effective evangelism tool for churches and outreach ministries. Reading God with Us: The Four Gospels Woven Together in One Telling will introduce people not just to a fascinating historical figure, but to the God of the universe, the great I AM.

Pick up your copy of God with Us—and a handful more to use as you encounter others who need to meet Jesus.

It’s like nothing you’ve ever read, even if you know the Bible well!

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Five Solutions for the Weary Pastor: A Personal Note to Church Members

Pastors are tired.

Many pastors are tired because of all the work they did leading to Easter Sunday, 

But it’s really bigger than that.

Pastors are tired because culture is no longer friendly to churches and to church leaders. Pastors are tired because of internal church conflict. Pastors are tired because of the barrage of social media conflict. Pastors are tired because everyone in the church wants them to make a decision. 

To be clear, pastors are not complaining. Instead, they are internalizing their struggles. Frankly, because most pastors have few outlets to express their frustrations, their mental health is eroding. Some are quitting vocational ministry. Some have thoughts that are just not healthy. 

Though this post is about pastors, I am addressing it to church members. Please read the rest of this article. Read it for your pastor. Read it for your church. Read it for the sake of the Kingdom.

Church members, here are five modest proposals for you to consider. 

1. Pray for your pastor daily. Even if you take just a couple of minutes a day, pray for your pastor. Get the word out. Take the leadership and get other church members to pray for your pastor.

2. Don’t ask your pastor to make every decision. Most pastors are “decision weary.” Unless the issue is critical, see if you can find solutions other than going to the pastor with the problem or need. 

3. Let your pastor know you want to be a part of the solution so more members can be equipped for ministry. The local church was never meant to be a pastor-driven ministry. All church members are to be doing the work of ministry. Let me encourage you to be at our webinar tomorrow (April 13) where we introduce “Church Equip.” Encourage your pastor to be there as well. It will be a time of joy and hope. Here is the registration link: https://churchanswers.com/webinars/799923/ 

4. Be a source of unity. Don’t join the bandwagon of critics about churches and pastors: “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose” (1 Corinthians 1:10, NLT). 

5. Seek to be a Great Commission Christian. Pray for opportunities to share what Christ has done in your life. Invite people to church. Start a new group in your church where you invite those not in a church to join you.

Obviously, this list is not exhaustive. But it can be a good start. 

By the way, thank you for taking time to read this article and listen.

P. S. Don’t forget to join us tomorrow to introduce a major new initiative called Church Equip. Register here: https://churchanswers.com/webinars/799923/

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7 Reasons Even Church Leaders Need Hope—and How Church Answers Can Help

We recently celebrated Resurrection Sunday, a day filled with hope and anticipation. That’s not to say, though, that everyone leading a church that day was living in hope. In fact, many church leaders need hope. Here are some reasons why:

We don’t really let the power of the resurrection affect every part of our lives. We’ve made Resurrection Sunday a once-a-year event, and we only talk about resurrection the rest of the year.We don’t know many people who are just filled with hope. Too many people we know are struggling with hopelessness themselves—and we get caught up in that wave.We’ve just come through some tough years that have drained us. Many churches I know are back to pre-COVID attendance, but the last few years have taken their toll on many church leaders.The weight of Christian ministry can be heavy and overwhelming. Our work can be painful. . . lonely. Just the weightiness of our calling can sometimes weaken our spirits.Our present-tense responsibilities overshadow any future-tense hope. Today’s work is never-ending, and tomorrow is yet to come. Sometimes we’re just trying to get through the day—and hope is somewhere in the distance.Ongoing personal sin has turned our heart toward self—and thus away from the God of hope. Our own lack of faithfulness to God always drains our hope. That is inevitably the case, for unfaithfulness robs us of God’s blessings in general.Trying to lead a church toward growth is often plodding, slow work. We’re often trying to turn a ship around that has been only floating for some time. Change doesn’t happen easily.

This hopelessness among church leaders is one reason why we at Church Answers will be introducing in June The Hope Initiative, a simple, reproducible, 30-day outreach strategy that helps turn a church outward and renew a leader’s hope. Our beta testing has already shown this strategy to be effective, and I encourage you to check it out here.

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Predicting Your Worship Attendance for the Next Year

Can you really predict your church’s worship attendance for the next year? Our answer is “maybe.”

I know such certainty gives you a lot of comfort!

Here’s the reality: the answer is in God’s hands. His Spirit can move as He pleases.

So why would we even attempt to project worship attendance? It’s a fair question.

Looking at Correlates

At the risk of boring you, allow me to explain the issue of correlates. A correlate is two or more factors that seem to affect each other. For example, we might say that drug use is a significant correlate of property crime.

We cannot necessarily prove that drug use causes property crime, but drug use is often pervasive when you look at data on property crime.

Back to Church Issues

We often look at correlates to help us understand church practices. And we can say confidently that some common factors are present in churches where the attendance is growing, particularly if the annual attendance growth rate is 10 percent or higher.

The big picture for growth in churches is Great Commission obedience. But that factor is general and can be vague. The question we sought to answer is, How does the church obey the Great Commission most effectively?

For example, we’ve learned that the frequency of evangelism activity in your church is a highly important correlate to your church’s attendance growth over the next year.

Predicting Attendance Growth in Your Church

We created a free tool that can help you predict growth (or decline) in your church for the next year. You can get it here: https://churchanswers.com/grow.

It is a fallible tool, but we still think it is a useful tool. It will take you about 10 minutes to complete and score.

While we hope the tool is interesting, our greater hope is that the tool can be useful for seeing Great Commission growth in your church.

Answer the questions as accurately as possible. The questions themselves are based on correlates, so you can immediately see where improvements are possible.

Let Us Hear from You

After you’ve completed the tool, we would love to hear from you. We are always in a learning posture, so your feedback is helpful to us.

Even more importantly, your feedback is helpful for the Kingdom.

And that’s what really matters.

https://churchanswers.com/grow

 

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Celebrating and Reaching Gen Z

I recently wrapped up recordings for Season 1 of our Church Answer’s Women Podcast, At The Table, with two interviews highlighting the joy and need of coming alongside Gen Z that will release on April 14th and 21st. Like every generation, they are often marked by negative stereotypes such as tech obsessed or anti-social and again like every generation there is so much more than what is perceived or talked about on the surface.

I don’t write as a sociologist or a researcher, but as a mom, minister, and leader who truly does want to see Jesus transform the hearts, minds, and souls of this generation coming after me. From the day-to-day conversations at the coffee shop with some of our college students to car rides on the way home from school with my own son, I see so much to celebrate and to encourage, and so many opportunities to call them toward the young men and women they are created to be.

Let’s Celebrate Them

1) They are resilient. The Covid 19 pandemic turned education, extracurriculars, relationships, and dreams upside down. They have had to battle immense pressures to catch up in their studies and re-engage social life in new ways. Statistics tell us they are battling mental health struggles more than ever and yet they are taking courageous steps in talking about their struggles, getting help, and encouraging others to seek help.

2) They are adaptable and creative. They are so familiar with technology and the new innovations of the day that they are quick to problem solve and figure out new technology as well as have new ideas for old problems. When given a problem they are quick to think through ways to tackle it that we would consider outside of the box.

3) They teach us how to engage differences. Unlike earlier generations, they do an incredible job of having conversations across differences. Whether over politics, race, or religion, they find themselves voicing their viewpoints and opinions and listening well to one another. They have deep empathy for people and want others to feel heard and valued.

4) They care about justice. This is one of the things I love most about them and watching God work through them. They care deeply about big and heavy topics and want to make a difference on things that matter.

I love how Roberta Katz describes Gen Z: “a typical Gen Zer is a self-driver who deeply cares about others, strives for a diverse community, is highly collaborative and social, values flexibility, relevance, authenticity and non-hierarchical leadership, and, while dismayed about inherited issues like climate change, has a pragmatic attitude about the work that has to be done to address those issues.”

A study from Barna concluded that “Curiosity about Jesus is widespread in the open generation. Teens in the U.S. are far more intrigued than their global peers, with 77 percent being at least somewhat motivated to keep learning about Jesus throughout their lives.”

When I look at Gen Z, I see young people who are hungry for relationship, meaning, and belonging–and possibly now more than ever–they are seeking these out and asking for answers. And the real question to be asked is: are we willing to pause, evaluate, and shift some of our perspectives and practices in order to meet them where they are?

Let’s Reach Them

1) Relationships are key. True life change and investment happens through relationships. Think of how much our church services are siloed into different age groups and gendered activities. Oftentimes the main worship gathering is the only time a church is fully together in one place, yet rarely do we make it a priority to go and say hello to the teen girls huddled together or the boys who are in the lobby waiting to go into service. Our students and young adults will never feel valued and a part of the family if we don’t engage them. Start with a hello. Ask them about their week. Follow up by asking them to grab a smoothie or ice cream sometime–or go to one of their ball games.

2) Don’t be afraid of doubts. Gen Z wrestles through many differing viewpoints, questions, and even doubts about their faith. Although this can be scary not knowing where they will land, it is an opportunity to tackle hard things together. From gender identity to justice issues, to our orthopraxy and traditions, they are asking questions seeking depth and truth. The temptation for us is to feel disrespected or insulted when they ask questions, but what if there is something more? Listening well and learning together are invitations toward connection and growth.

3) What is celebrated is embodied. How you speak about your teen, what you celebrate about your student ministry, and the wisdom you learn from your college students and young adults is noticed by them. If we constantly point to how God is using them and how they are being image bearers in unique and hard ways, they will not only see God, but they will live out who God made them to be. Gen Z (much like all of us) wants to wake up each day with purpose and mission. What an incredible privilege to get to link the creative and unique ways they image God to a broken world and then cheer them on as they take up the mantle to be lights in the midst of darkness–so that right now they will make a difference on their campuses, with their teams, and in their neighborhoods. 

Further Resources on Gen Z:

At The Table Podcast episodes 24 and 25 (coming soon)
Gen Z Reacts with Sam Rainer
Growing Young Curriculum from Fuller Seminary
Free E-Book The Greatest Decision

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This One Meeting Revolutionized How I Listen to My Church Staff

“You’re missing an opportunity to listen,” the consultant told me. He was kind but blunt. I knew he was right.

“Start meeting with each team member one-on-one, at least once a month.”

I followed his advice and have not looked back. These one-on-ones have helped me lead the church staff unlike anything else.

Setting up these meetings is simple. I reserve several blocks of time throughout the year, and my team signs up via Calendly, which I highly recommend to help manage your calendar.

The purpose of the meeting is twofold. First, these one-on-ones exist for church staff to bring to me any items they believe need my attention. Second, I ask about their families, spiritual walk with God, and how they are doing in our church work environment.

I spend about thirty minutes in these one-on-one meetings. The first fifteen minutes are dedicated to church-related work. The last fifteen minutes are spent discussing more personal items, like how their children are doing, their favorite sports team, or upcoming vacation plans. The conversations are usually light-hearted, but occasionally staff share some of their personal struggles. It’s my time to be their pastor.

Thirty minutes each month may not seem like a lot, but over time, the cumulative effect of these meetings starts to build relational capital. A monthly meeting will amount to six hours of one-on-one time in a year.

The impact of this investment is enormous.

It’s good to be in the moment with each staff person one-on-one. The goal is to prioritize their needs and concerns rather than imposing mine on them.

Here are some tips to make these meetings more successful:

Keep them short. Thirty minutes should be sufficient.Put your computer, phone, and other devices out of sight. Be present and focus entirely on the staff person.Be optimistic. Don’t let your foul mood turn the room sour. Research shows a leader can have a contagion effect if he or she starts a meeting with the wrong tone.Elevate these meetings. Do not cancel them with your team. Send the message they are important.Let your staff lead the conversations.Make it clear they are the ones bringing any agenda items. Your goal is to listen.Ask questions. Don’t give them directives in these meetings unless they ask you for one.

What questions can you ask to be more effective as a listener? Here are ten suggestions:

How can I help equip you in your ministry role?What are your current priorities?Is there anything you need me to do to understand your perspective better?What excites you most about the next twelve months?Do you have thoughts on something that you have not felt like you can share?Is anything slowing you down or preventing you from accomplishing your goals?What kind of ongoing feedback would you like from me?How do you feel most supported in your ministry role?What is your favorite part of your week? Why?What are you reading? What are your favorite podcasts? What have you learned from them?

You should not ask all these questions at every one-on-one, but you may find one or two helpful depending on the staff person and the situation. Don’t treat these meetings as another task on your list of things to do. Instead, consider the time as critical to relational health. End the meeting by asking the staff person if they have a prayer request. Then take the last few minutes to pray. The goal is for the person to leave the room feeling valued, respected, and informed.

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The Right Way to Seek Pastors and Church Staff for Your Church

Almost every week we at Church Answers hear from search committees (or their equivalent). They are frustrated because they can’t find quality candidates for pastor or church staff positions. The process has taken much longer than they anticipated. Members of the church are getting restless and, sometimes, critical.

Likewise, we hear from pastors and church staff who are considering a move. They are often frustrated because of the lack of responsiveness of search committees. We heard from one pastor who was initially contacted by a search committee. The initial Zoom interview went well, and the committee indicated they wanted to take the next step with him.

But he never heard from the search committee . . . until two years later. They told him that he was their top candidate. But he had accepted the call to another church six months earlier.

“The Way We’ve Always Done It” Is Not Working

Many search committees use a process that became ineffective about a decade ago. They collect resumes from a wide range of recommendations, from ads, and if they are affiliated, from their denomination. They are usually able to get a large stack of applications and resumes.

Because search committees mostly include laypersons with busy schedules, they only meet once a week. The process becomes laborious–and often painful. 

I will not take time to repeat here the specific flaws of this process. For now, I will note two major flaws. First, there is often no attempt to match ministry and cultural philosophies between the church and the candidate. Even if the candidate is doctrinally aligned with the church, that does not mean that he or she is a good fit for the church.

Second, search committees take many unnecessary steps that prolong the process. Many who serve on a pastor or church staff search committee are doing so for the first time. The only way they know to proceed is the way search committees have done it in the past.

What Is Working

I am an advocate of hiring a good search firm to find a few candidates to present to the search committee. Search firms have gone through this process countless times. They know what they are doing. They have proven methods to match churches with candidates.

The most common objections I hear to retaining search firms are twofold. First, the church does not want to pay the reasonable cost of the firm. I can assure you that calling the wrong person to the church is a lot more expensive and painful than retaining a search firm. 

Second, some churches object because they think that hiring a search firm removes God from the process. Just like the Holy Spirit can work through a search committee, the Holy Spirit can also work through a search firm. And the search firm provides multiple candidates for the committee to prayerfully consider .

Another key way to find qualified candidates requires the church to present information that clearly depicts the identity of the church. That identity, of course, includes doctrine and denominational affiliation, if any. But it should also speak about the community in which the church is located, specific cultural issues of the church, and philosophies of ministry.

A Good Example  

Deek Dubberly is the lead pastor of First Baptist Church of Rincon, Georgia, a suburb of Savannah. His church is seeking to call a next generation pastor. Deek and the church produced a great video for prospective candidates to consider. 

I am grateful Deek is part of the Church Answers community and shared the video with the nearly 2,000 members in the community. Note how he talks about the community of Rincon and Savannah. Note how clearly he articulates the philosophy of ministry for the candidates. The church wants a team player and not a next gen pastor to develop a siloed ministry.

I won’t give away the full content of the video. With permission from Deek, I am sharing it with you.

Enjoy it. You will be blessed.

 

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How Sensible Pastors React to Harsh Public Criticism

One pastor had a group of people circulate a petition to get him fired. They tried to get signatures in the foyer as members walked into church for Sunday services. Another pastor experienced the creation of a Facebook page dedicated to criticizing every aspect of his preaching and leadership. In a small town, a pastor became the fodder for regular op-ed pieces in the local newspaper. They were not flattering.

In each of these cases, some would claim the criticisms were warranted. Perhaps they were right. Or maybe the critics had impure motives and were overly harsh.

Criticism can be either constructive or destructive. Constructive criticism comes from a pure motive to help the one criticized. Destructive criticism grows out of selfish motives and desires to tear down the one criticized. Criticism can also be either public or private. Both have a place. Typically, the critic should start with private conversations and escalate to more public statements when others are at risk. In rare cases, a whistleblower may need to inform the world about a particular situation.

Consider the below matrix. This article addresses destructive and public criticism, which is often harmful. How should sensible pastors react after receiving unwarranted, harsh public criticism?

Decide if a public response is necessary. If the critic intends harm, a response—private or public—may cause more problems. This kind of criticism is often short-lived (less than 24 hours), and people will move on to other targets. The first step is to determine the duration and damage of the criticism. If the critique has legs and will trample on a lot of people, then you will likely need to offer a public response.

Don’t expect fairness. Perhaps an ideal church, organization, or business exists where leaders are treated with total equity. I have not found one. The reality is positions of power must be checked by bottom-up accountability. But this accountability comes from people who are often not aware of the efforts you made to solve problems. You make a decision, and people question it. At times, you will receive unfair public criticism. Pastors must shoulder this burden. Is it fair? No, but leadership is ultimately about sacrifice and service, not fairness.

Keep calm and use facts. Maintaining a good reputation is a biblical requirement for pastors. I can understand the visceral reaction of defensiveness when faced with a public attack. Most want to defend their good name. The problem is you escalate the issue when you respond emotionally. In most cases, a calm and matter-of-fact response is best.

Attempt to learn from unwarranted attacks. When faced with harsh and public criticism, you will expend energy. It’s up to you to determine what type of energy. Will you learn something? Or will you waste the opportunity and devolve into rage, paranoia, or exasperation? Perhaps the critique has no basis at all. Nevertheless, you can still learn from why and how the critique was offered.

Use humility as your tone and transparency as your tactic. Public criticism often requires a public response. Grandstanding will make the critic look like the victim. Holding back information will raise suspicions of you and give credence to your critic. Respond with a tone of humility. Give everyone all the information at the same time. Generally, you’ve got one shot at a response. Do it right the first time. People are sensitive to gaslighting. When information dribbles out, you appear as if there is something to hide. Be sensible, not sensational.

Show empathy to your critic. Your feelings about your critic’s feelings are irrelevant. Church members need to know you have empathy, even for the most erroneous detractors. You can build a bridge by demonstrating an understanding of their emotions while at the same time refuting their claims with facts.

Public criticism is an inevitable part of pastoral ministry. It will happen but hopefully not often. You are especially vulnerable when the complaints are overly harsh and out in the open. Sensible shepherds will respond in a way that benefits the church, even if it hurts personally.

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