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Quiet Quitting. Quiet Firing. Quiet Church

Have you heard this saying? “An employer will pay employees just enough to prevent them from quitting, while employees work just hard enough not to be fired.”

Could this really occur in a church? Hopefully not, but we live in a different day. Quiet quitting and quiet firing both produce a quiet church. What is a quiet church? One the surrounding community barely knows exists. The members have no excitement or anticipation, and the pastor has stopped offering initiatives.

Two business publications recently highlighted the trends of quiet quitting and quiet firing. The lessons and insights from these articles can help churches identify and correct negative congregational cultures. Inc. Magazine (September 2022) described quiet quitting as employees who lose meaning in their careers, purposefully disengage, and view their job as a means to an end. Studies show workers fall into three categories: those who find status or self-worth in their jobs, those who see their jobs as the way to provide for their families, and those who see their jobs as a calling. Interestingly, Inc. described "calling" as a clergy category.

As pastors, which of these categories describes your ministry over the last two years? Do you pastor because the role gives you worth, a paycheck, or a calling? Obviously, the calling is why most enter the ministry, but quiet quitting assigns your worth to your job. Quiet quitting is not laziness but finding easy distractions to take you off task.

Do you spend more time online (during your business day) than engaged in mission-critical items? Does your personal world eat up the hours in your workday? Do you reach the end of the day or week struggling to finish necessary items because you gravitated to non-essentials? Do you lack the desire to put in the extra time you once did? If some of these apply, you might be quiet quitting without even knowing it.

On the other hand, The Harvard Business Review (November 2022) noted employers sometimes create conditions that drive employees to resign rather than letting them go. Such actions by employers, according to HBR, include changing job descriptions, demoting, giving employees undesirable responsibilities, not allowing them new opportunities, cutting pay, and not providing raises or bonuses. Deacon boards and smaller churches, have you used similar tactics to drive away your pastor instead of having an honest conversation?

Neither quiet quitting nor quiet firing is biblical. God’s Word says a worker is worthy of his hire (an appropriate paycheck), and workers should not be sluggards. A pastor’s call means his work is more than a job; it’s an inspired investment, even when not reciprocated. Churches, while you expect your pastor to give his all, you should do the same through support, volunteering, and providing for his family.

We need less quiet quitting and more emphasis on higher callings. Churches, champion your pastors as they champion your congregation.

About the Columnist: Ron Hunter Jr. has a Ph.D. in leadership and is CEO of Randall House Publications. You may contact him at ron.hunter@randallhouse.com.