Imagine a church member of relatively low influence coming to the elder board and saying that the lead pastor is an abusive bully. That elder board is faced with a choice between possibly losing a dynamic, gifted pastor (and the ministry that goes with it) and losing a relatively inconsequential church member. It isn’t difficult to see which way that decision will go. Indeed, it was effectively made long before any accusations of abuse were made—when the church decided it preferred a “gifted” pastor over a godly one.
