If just Googled the phrase “my senior pastor sucks” or some derivative of that – it will give you great confidence to know that you’re not the first one to land here after typing that into a search engine. In fact, searches relating to senior pastors have accounted for a significant amount of web traffic to my blogs since I first started writing about youth ministry 7 years ago.

So what do you do when your senior pastor sucks? First off … we all suck. You do, too. We are all a collection of losses and failures, so show her some slack. Maybe consider the bigger picture that he has to account for you’re only seeing a small sliver of from your spot.

That having been said, I thought I would rattle off a few responses to this fleeting and destructive thought and invite you to add another in the comments if you feel so inspired:

  • Pray for them – you’ll be surprised what this does for YOUR heart.
  • Help them be a better leader – nudge them to easy wins that would have been losses
  • Help them see the blind spots – you see things different, help them see too
  • Speak highly of them – fight the temptation to jab or accept divisive praise
  • Get out of the church as quickly as possible – just kidding, just wanted to make sure you were still paying attention
  • Ask God if you’re supposed to stay – for real.
  • Build a relationship with them – they’ve got to eat lunch, too.

Add more!

JG