Unhealthy Church Environments

Many authors and researchers have attempted to describe unhealthy church patterns and the leaders who create them. One of the major points for concern involves the critical issue of honest communication.

Charactered leaders advocate open, transparent and straight forward communication throughout the ministry.They promote a culture of accountability by inviting any and all questions relating to personal, ministerial and leadership integrity. These will be responded to with "straight up" answers while purposefully affirming the congregants asking the questions. Anything less than this should give every member pause about the health of the church and the trustworthiness of it's leadership.

Therefore, after reviewing several of the more prominent writings on the subject, I have extracted their substantive comments on the subject.

[rgh]

>Communications are ambiguous, events
are "spun" the way the leadership wants to present them. Pertinent information is
hidden from members. Straight answers are not given; different people may be told
different things.

Finances may be kept secret, with misleading financial statements that hide where
the money really goes.

Frankly, there is so much dishonesty in unhealthy... churches that people may not
even know they are being dishonest. The ability to "spin" things to make the system
look better or to get people to conform becomes a second language....

>People who identify problems are viewed as a threat. They are marginalized,
stigmatized and cast out of the system.


>Thought Control....simple answers to complex questions, and using "loaded language"
to shunt the thinking process.

> Their communication is not straight. Their speech becomes especially vague and
confusing when they are defending themselves.

>Information Control- information enables people to make decisions; hiding
information prevents sound decision making and leads to manipulation.

>Secretive- When you see people...being secretive-- watch out. People don't hide
what is appropriate; they hide what is inappropriate