Non-Disclosure Agreements are a tool for toxic church cultures

In 2019, pastor Rick Warren told a reporter why Saddleback Church...didn’t use nondisclosure agreements (NDAs): “We believe that our competition is not other churches, but rather the world, the flesh, and the devil.”

Warren’s comment hints at the original purpose of NDAs: to prevent employees of businesses from taking trade secrets to competitors — an Apple employee from taking the latest phone update to their new Microsoft gig.

Saddleback’s new lead pastor may be less inclined to take such an open-handed approach.

In recent months, allegations of unhealthy leadership patterns have been lodged against Andy Wood, the new senior pastor at Saddleback and former senior pastor at Echo Church, a multisite congregation in San Jose, California. In response, Saddleback hired an executive search firm to investigate the claims and found “no systemic or pattern of abuse under Andy’s leadership.”

But critics say if former Echo employees were allowed to talk freely, patterns would emerge. More than 1,100 people have signed a petition asking that Echo release former employees from their NDAs, lest unhealthy patterns go unchecked or resurface in a new church.

Reliance on NDAs is entwined with the well-established phenomenon of celebrity pastors. When a church’s identity is enmeshed with that of its celebrity leader, the church will often go to great lengths to protect the leader’s image. In many of these cases, “gossip” is forbidden simply because of the leader’s fragile ego, as if the leader can’t bear the thought of anyone asking questions. Shouldn’t we promote leaders whose psyches can handle critique?

We have to face the fact that the existence of NDAs in Christian organizations is a worse witness for the church than any information that might come out in their absence. The concealment of truth and the appearance of image management are more damaging than the truth.

https://religionnews.com/2022/09/08/ndas-are-a-tool-for-toxic-church-cultures/