Workplace Bullying In Church

Bullying in the church? Bullying by the church? Yes, it happens there because like other workplaces, psychopaths lurk! They bring distress and trauma to their targets, injur mental health, and cause psychological injury to their victims by this ill-treatment.

Towards the end of my time as a church minister, I experienced the trauma of bullying at the hands of colleagues, initiated by a group of church elders who reported me to my Presbytery, alleging that I was “causing trouble among the people.”

An investigation ensued that was intended to arrive at the facts, but which instead demonstrated that ulterior motives were present that precluded my having a fair hearing. Deep hurt was beginning to show, and one year before my church employment ended, I had considered ‘going out into the night and not coming back.’ All I wanted was peace to get on with my work, and ‘release’ from this hell. But how? Because I felt that I had lost control of my life, I had decided to go out and never come back. But I didn’t. I later came to see that this was the intervening providence of Almighty God preserving me for what was to become a very different type of ministry.

During the investigations, my credibility was questioned, my handling of people criticised, and my professional competence challenged. All agreed that I had not contravened any laws, nor had I broken any solemnly taken religious vows. I was subjected to grueling interrogation at the hearings, was asked to violate conscience, was made to feel that I was “a square peg in a round hole,” and was accused of having multiple personality. I simply could not understand why these people were targeting me for this kind of “psychological terrorisation.”

This brought me very low; my self-esteem and sense of self-worth had virtually gone; making even the easiest of decisions almost paralysed me. My behaviour became totally uncharacteristic. This resulted in a breakdown in my mental health some fifteen months after my dismissal. My psychiatrist was about to admit me to hospital on at least two occasions for my own safety. Suicide seemed the only way to escape this horrible existence. All interest in myself, and in my family had gone; while I was suffering the trauma of workplace bullying, my family suffered with me. This has left an indelible mark on me, my wife and our two sons.

Beyond question, this was the most traumatic experience that I had ever had. Not even my worst experiences in life could compare with the trauma and pain of the workplace bullying I had experienced as a church minister.

This anti-social behaviour is found in all workplaces. You are reading this article because you are keen to find out more about workplace bullying. You can identify personally with the above story. This is not something that you have to tolerate indefinitely. There is a solution.