Customer Reviews

Clergy Killers: Guidance for Pastors and Congregations under Attack

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In some churches one or more pathological antagonists lurk to make a beachhead of attack upon the pastor. These "clergy killers" are vicious, mean-spirited, and full of rage who target the pastor for elimination by any means possible. Passive, unsuspecting parishoners sit by and carelessly allow this "murder" of their pastor's ministry, career, even his marriage and family (collateral damage). Only radical surgery of these sick ("evil"?) antagonists can prevent the destruction of the pastor's life and ministry. This book should be read by all boards of deacons, elders, stewards to prepare them for a protective ministry for their ministers. Thousands of ministers are being driven from the ministry (and church) each year by these (sometimes pious, slick, and charming) destructive antagonists. Rediger shows us how to stop this bleeding of the church's leadership. If your pastor is under attack and wounded, he/she needs your help now. Redi! ! ger offers such help.

We were almost "Clergy Killed", but thanks to the insight of this author, we decided to seek the help emotionally, psychologically and spiritually that we so deserately needed. It was because of this book's section on "Collateral Damage" that allowed my husband's disability insurance to kick in. The first 5 paragraphs of this book almost verbatum describe our situation. Just the names were changed to protect the guilty. It's a practical balanced perspective in the psychosocial world as well as spiritually speaking. Another great complimentary book to this is "Firestorm: Preventing and Overcoming Church Conflicts" by Run Susek. Both these books are MUST READS for any church leader, whether laymen or profession.

This is one of the most insightful, and truth-telling books on the subject of church life and ministry that I have ever read! Dr. Rediger seeks to deal with a tragic,, but growing trend in our day, which is the tendecy of some powerbrokers in some churches to target, abuse, and fire pastor after pastor. I realize that some pastors have some real problems, but how is it that some churches mistreat pastor after pastor? Is it believeable that several pastors in a row could make the same mistakes in the same church? Perhaps we should ask ourselves what are the common denominators such as the unresolved personality disorders that exist in churches. It is time for congregations to wake up and realize what these "Clergy Killers" are doing not only to ministers and their families, but also to people in the church who befriend and support the minister, maybe even YOU. In addition, we need to ask what is this doing to the cause of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ? Is this what Jesus died to accomplish? I do not think so!
Dr. Rediger has given us a wonderful analysis of the problem and how congregations must accept the responsibility which is theirs and STOP FOLLOWING CLERGY KILLERS! STOP ELECTING THEM TO LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AND STOP HINDERING THE WORK OF CHRIST. DO THINGS WHICH WILL LEAD THEM TO THERAPY WHERE THEY CAN EXAMINE WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND COME TO SEE BETTER, HEALTHIER WAYS OF LIVING AND RELATING! THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH AND ITS MINISTERS DEPENDS IN LARGE PART ON HOW WE RESPOND TO THIS PROBLEM NOW AND NOT DECADES DOWN THE ROAD. LET'S NOT CREATE A SITUTATION THAT DRIVES MANY TALENTED AND GOD-CALLED PEOPLE OUT OF THE MINISTRY!THIS IS MUST READING FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN AND ESPECIALLY EVERY MINISTER OR ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT MINISTERS!

Lloyd Rediger is a speaker and consultant on church dynamics and leadership issues; in "Clergy Killers," he addresses a shocking, yet growing phenomenon. Pastors and priests are being increasingly attacked by their own congregation members; this is more than mere differences of principled opinions, personality conflicts, or poor communication-rather the conflict involves persistent and deliberate attacks that stem from mental illness or a conscious choice on the part of a person to embrace evil. The results of these attacks are devastating: the pastor's overall health is strongly, adversely affected as is the health of the pastor's family, the health of the church leaders, their families, and the congregation itself. To further compound the issue, pastors are often neither trained nor prepared to confront abnormal conflict, most seminaries don't train in conflict management, and denominational leaders are neither equipped nor motivated to assist pastors under attack.

For this important problem, Rediger presents a number of helpful suggestion to avoid serious attacks. These include recognizing the existence of mental illness and evil (both in the world and in the church), the deliberate cultivation of relationships ("Relationships! Relationships! Relationships!"), a purposeful focus on health-physical, mental, and spiritual-for both the pastor and the congregation at large, and the identification of support systems.

Rediger is strong on the identification and analysis of the danger posed by "clergy killers." Weaker is his sections on solutions-not because they seem unworkable, but because they are not presented as clearly as they might have been and because the connections between proposed solution and the original problem tends to be ambiguous. Nevertheless, this reflects his holistic and systematic approach to issues (which is appreciated and tends to compliment Kenneth Haugk's "Antagonists in the Church" well). Other weaknesses in this otherwise excellent book include his well-intentioned treatment on worship/prayer (which tended to tear down traditional Western forms of worship in order to build up his favored Eastern forms) and the closing bibliography. Rediger cites a number of helpful books in the narrative yet the closing bibliography does not reflect these citations.

In all, these criticisms do not detract from the overall high quality of the book. As one formerly under attack by a clergy killer, the book is dead-right in many places and has helped to prepare me should similar issues arise in the future. It (along with Haugk's book) should be required reading for pastors and lay leaders.

This book covers a very particular issue that I have witnessed and experienced first-hand in congregations. It is frightening that these dynamics actually exist. It seems incredible that they happen again and again. I only wonder what to do after one has been killed. Would appreciate a follow-up or a "Dead Pastors' Society" with whom to associate.

Listing a number of across-the-board statistics, Dr. Rediger presents the problem of the "Clergy Killer," the person who is on a search & destroy mission for the pastor and all who might align themselves to him. In all my years of church work, I've only come across a single individual within the church who even began to manifest a small portion of the traits that are described in this book. May the Lord in His graciousness allow my naivety to continue. On the other hand, I have seen a number of such individuals outside of the church and in the working world. I can speak from experience that their targets are not confined to pastors, but are set on anyone who is perceived to be in authority.

A number of case studies are cited to support the generally stated mythos of the "clergy killer." This is not someone who is merely at odds or even openly antagonistic to pastoral authority, but one who is willing to go to any lengths, both immoral and unethical, to bring a pastor down. Though a minority, the book also dealt with clergy killers from among the pastorate.

The strengths of this book are seen in its documenting what seems to be a persistent problem within the church and in seeking for various strategies to overcome the "clergy killer." The theological stance of the author seems to be so broadly based as to apply these principles to any religion or any opposition in any walk of life. Interestingly, the book makes little or no mention of the various adversaries faced in the New Testament and the Biblical strategies provided to deal with them.

One of the best ways to defend a clergy killer is to avoid inadvertently manufacturing one in the first place. The author points out that members who are bored, floundering, under used and under recognized are potential candidates for being turned into clergy killers (Page 55).

"We get sick when we forget how to be well" (Page 183). The author utilizes this quote several times, indicating its importance to his overall theme. This is essentially a book about sick church members who seek to handle their sickness by attacking their perceived enemy - the clergy.

This text was nothing short of answered prayer in my search for handling conflict wtihin our church. Thanks for the insight.

Clergy Killers is a book about antagonists in the church intent on destroying pastors. The great strength of the book is in documenting the pervasiveness of the problem - with case studies and statistics detailing the abuse clergy receive at the hands of antagonistic members. (FYI: Rediger also has a chapter on Killer Clergy, who destroy their congregations).

I've seen just enough of this in the lives of pastors I know to understand this is a real danger. The long-term retention rate for pastors in their vocation is not very good, and clergy killers are one of the reasons. Rediger makes clear that there is normal conflict in any church, even healthy churches. But he goes on to discuss unusual and abnormal conflict: resulting from people either with some kind of serious problem (in some cases mental, most often spiritual). Perhaps the saddest reality is the collateral damage (harm done to the pastor's spouse and children). It's sad when anyone has problems at work, and a child may see their father suffer and come to hate their dad's workplace. How much worse when what they hate is the church (and sometimes, by extension, God).

What worked: Rediger does a pretty good job laying out the problem, or at least establishing that there is one. And also presenting the case that most of us are unprepared for it (pastors, churches, and denominations).

What didn't: I was severely underwhelmed by his prescriptions for dealing with the problems. He relies heavily on strategies for intervention and basic psychotherapy techniques for mental wellness. It seemed pretty sterile, and frankly, not all that helpful. What I would have liked to have seen were basic strategies for a pastor to practice self-care: a detailed discussion on spiritual disciplines, healthy living practices, and encouragement to build a healthy family life and close friendships. All these things get mentions, but aren't fleshed out with any real thoughtfulness.

Additionally, this book begs for a healthy discussion of the role of the elders in shepherding the pastor. How does an elder board or session care for and protect its pastor? A large discussion of Matthew 18 is needed and wanting in this book, as well as discussions about the importance of church discipline and how to practice excommunication, when needed.

Rediger does talk about exorcism a good bit - literally the casting out of evil. This is normally a term used for casting out demons, but he uses it more broadly here to mean dealing with evil of any kind. These sections were helpful, and I need to do a good bit more thinking about this.

Read it if: you can't find any other good books on conflict in the church. Elders may want to read it to think about how they can better care for their pastors.

There's got to be better books out there on this subject. Can anyone make some recommendations?

This book I received in good condition and I thoughly enjoy reading. I will make other purchases through amozon.com This is a good way to purchases books when you have limited funding

You may wonder why there is a book tackling what seems to be an issue so severe that it must be extremely rare, if it even really exists. The author is addressing the specific situation when a member of the congregation is truly focused on destroying a pastor. Most people have never seen a clergy killer in operation. I have.

I've worked with a number of churches over the years and from first-hand observations can testify such individuals exist. They may be rare, but they really do exist. If you are a member of the clergy it would be wise to read this book and file away the knowledge for some future day. If you are under severe attack right now, get the book for your self-preservation.

The author distinguishes between three types of conflict: normal, abnormal, and spiritual. Each of them needs to be handled differently. The first type can be managed, negotiated, settled, or mediated. The second type won't respond well to those approaches and probably will need involvement from professional caregivers. The third type has to be addressed from a completely different direction. It isn't possible to negotiate or agree-to-disagree in a spiritual conflict. The insights from the book, along with large doses of discernment, can give you a shot at recognizing which conflict is in which category. Then you have a shot at resolving them successfully.

Defining those three types of conflicts and explaining how to handle each of them is the primary focus of the book. The author also discusses `collateral damage'. Those would be the other people that get hurt during an attack on the clergy. Their harm is real and also requires healing. Clergy and those close to them needs to be attentive to self-care before the disaster so they have the energy and strength to function in general and especially when under attack.

The book ends with two good chapters that focus on health - how clergy can build up their own health and how congregations can make themselves healthy.

The author is coming from the Protestant tradition, as is this reviewer. However, this is not a "Christian" or "Protestant" book. I do not recall him quoting a single Bible verse. He avoids bringing denominational distinctives into his discussion. I think the book would also be valuable to religious leaders in the Roman Catholic, Eastern orthodox, Jewish, and Muslim traditions. I am certain the Protestant community has not cornered the market on attracting people who try to destroy our leaders.