You're fired

Major kudos are in order for the school administrators where my children attend. There was a hiring decision that turned out badly, and it was corrected after just one semester. I'm very impressed and a bit surprised.

We had planned to write a letter to the administration to urge a change, after we felt that one of our children wouldn't suffer any negative repercussions. We are still going to write a letter, but it will be one of thanks and encouragement for simply doing the right thing at the right time.

I wish churches could move as quickly and decisively to release staff when appropriate. Maybe some do -- I doubt it though. I'm convinced that church leaders' biggest problem is fear. Fear of a job termination decision being mistaken for a cold, uncaring, unkind act of family member termination -- which it is not.

A bad hiring decision haunts church families for much longer than it should... which *is* ultimately unkind and uncaring -- for the group of believers they are shepherding. Unfortunately, I really think that some church staff may see that fear and take advantage of it.