What a report looks like.
One board member brought this to the Voices, exactly as written:
“I'm on the board of my church and our board members aren't getting along. I don't know what to do.”
You are watching the table where your church is supposed to be led become the place where it is quietly being wounded, and you feel too small to fix it. That is an honest place to stand. A divided board is not only a problem to manage; it is an invitation to ask what kind of power is operating in the room, and to let the servant way of Jesus reset the table itself.
Counsel from the published work of the Council
Drawing on the published work of Lance Ford
Drawing on the published work of Lance Ford, board conflict is rarely just a clash of personalities; it is usually the fruit of a leadership culture the church imported without noticing, one built on positional authority, winning, and control rather than on mutual submission. His writing argues that when leaders relate as rivals for influence, they are practicing the very lording-over that Jesus forbade, and no amount of meeting management will heal it. The way through is not a stronger chairman but a table of peers: leaders who take responsibility for their own repentance first, who practice honoring one another out loud, and who make decisions as servants of the body rather than defenders of positions. A concrete start for your board: before the next agenda item is touched, ask each member to name one way they have contributed to the division and one thing they honor in the person they clash with most.
Scripture that speaks to this
“You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.”
Matthew 20:25-26 · WEB
“doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.”
Philippians 2:3-4 · WEB
“In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another;”
Romans 12:10 · WEB
“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
James 3:17-18 · WEB
First moves for your board or eldership
- Call a meeting with no business on the agenda: its only purpose is for board members to hear one another and pray together.
- Invite each member to name their own contribution to the division before naming anyone else’s.
- Agree together on how disagreement will be handled from now on: directly, in the room, never in the parking lot.
- Identify whether the conflict centers on a position or personality that has quietly become bigger than the body, and say it out loud.
- If trust is too damaged to do this alone, bring in an outside servant-hearted facilitator before making any major decisions.
Reading for the road
- The Atlas Factor · Lance Ford
For re-founding your board on leadership that carries weight the way Jesus does. Find this book
- UnLeader · Lance Ford
For naming the imported leadership habits that set your table at odds in the first place. Find this book
May your board become the first place in your church where the servant way of Jesus is visible. May you prefer one another in honor before you persuade one another in debate. May the table that has known rivalry come to know washing-of-feet instead. It shall not be so among you; and by grace, it will not be.
The Resource Council members are real authors and practitioners. Reports are AI-composed summaries drawing on their published, publicly available teaching; they are not written, reviewed, or endorsed by these authors, contain no quotations from their books, and do not represent their words or views. Resource Council reports are a tool for reflection, not a substitute for pastoral care, counseling, legal advice, or professional consulting. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (public domain).