Sure, it was a thinly-veiled act of sabotage – but its efficiency and elegance was breathtaking.
The attractive mid-sixties cream-brick church in a well-to-do suburb was ripe for revitalisation. Situated in the middle of a pedestrian suburb, literally dozens of young families walked past the building every day taking their kids to school. The congregation was aged and had dwindled well below the size of viability. The previous two ministers had departed after short incumbencies, stating they had ‘burned out’.
The new minister decided to start an afternoon contemporary-style service, more likely to be relatable for the couples with little kids who were moving into the area. The service launched with promising attendance. Perhaps the church could ‘j-curve’ back toward flourishing.
That’s when the gatekeepers sprang into action. Waiting outside the church as those attending the new congregation were leaving, the old guard were armed with clipboards and disingenuous questions. The ‘new congregation survey’ successfully communicated to the newcomers that they were invaders who were threatening the heritage of the church. The fledgling congregation dwindled and discontinued soon after.
This really was the church’s last shot at a future. The frustrated minister departed and within a couple of years the church was closed by the denomination.
To the average church minister, footy club president or not-for-profit CEO, gatekeepers seem like bloody-minded conspirators who would rather the organisation die than change. As ‘pillars’ of their organisations, gatekeepers’ sometimes destructive actions seem to make no sense.
To understand gatekeepers and what drives them, we need to appreciate that humans are both hierarchical and emotional.
All social species (including humans) for hierarchies – from chickens with pecking orders to gorillas with alpha females and silverbacks to social media and its influencers. Those at the top of the order have the best shot at survival and reproduction, the primary instincts that drive all forms of life. Anthropologists observe that human hierarchies are complex, particularly in larger societies where we participate in multiple social systems, each with its own sub-culture and structures.
Hierarchy is deeply rooted in human instinct. We spontaneously form hierarchies wherever we interact – sometimes very subtly, sometimes overtly and usually without even thinking about it. One’s place in a human hierarchy could be based on status criteria like attractiveness, popularity or socio-economic standing. Or it could be based on power criteria like position, money or physical prowess.
Because it’s emotionally linked to our basic drives, when a person’s position in a hierarchy is threatened, they’ll automatically act to defend it – it’s a reflexive, emotional reaction, with the short-term goal of restoring or protecting the prevailing order. Rarely are such actions thoughtful or strategic, even when they look as if they’re planned.
The gatekeepers in the church described earlier faced a sudden threat to their positions of influence and recognition. The new congregation could quickly become the main congregation of the church, outnumbering the longstanding members and the newcomers vying for position of influence on church boards and committees. Instinct told the old guard they would become unknown, their history, their long contribution, their insider knowledge of the church and its peculiar traditions all ignored and forgotten. These loyal and hardworking stalwarts feared they would become nobodies in their own church. This was not articulated or acknowledged, perhaps even to themselves – but it was felt deeply and painfully.
As a leader in the church it’s tempting to either marginalise gatekeepers and hope they give up (they might, or they might seek to wreak sabotage until you give up), or to be paralysed by the possibility of conflict and resign yourself to the status quo.
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