If a Board Member Goes Crazy, What Should You Do?
Oct 25, 2025The church board's main job is to keep the mission on track, make sure everyone is responsible, and oversee how the church is run. But what if a board member performs things that aren't part of their job, goes after their personal interests, or tries to damage the leadership? Rogue board members can hurt the firm in many ways, such as breaking it up, getting it in trouble with the law, and hurting its reputation.
This in-depth tutorial outlines what happens to a firm when board members act in bad faith and how it affects the organization. We discuss how to see problems coming, how to stay away from them, and how to fix them when they do come. We also talk about how Regan VanSteenis's Tier 3: THE PASTOR SUPPORT PLAN gives churches the tools they need to deal with these hard times wisely and strongly. Some of these tools are audits of governance, legal advice, and mentoring for business leaders.
Part 1: What You Should Know About the Risks of Having a Bad Board Member
What does it imply when someone "goes off the rails"? Doing activities that go against the regulations, not telling the truth, having a conflict of interest, or going against the church's mission.
Some possible outcomes are a lack of leadership, problems with the law, contributors not trusting the organization, leaders not agreeing, and less effective ministry.
Legal exposure: being accused of mismanagement, breaking a fiduciary duty, and getting attention from regulators.
Part 2: Early Signals That Someone Is Experiencing Trouble
- If you don't want to be seen or open up, it means you're not ready to be held accountable.
- Attacking pastors or other board members in public or private to make it harder for them to lead.
- Putting your own needs ahead of the church's is a conflict of interest.
- When you make choices on your own, you do things without the board's permission or agreement.
- Not sharing important facts is bad communication.
- Disruptive behavior includes making groups or breaking them up.
Part 3: Strengthening Governance to Stop Bad Behavior
These rules and bylaws make it clear who is in charge, what they should do, and what to do if someone breaks the rules.
Board Training and Orientation: This is when members learn about the church's laws and what they need to do by law.
There are two forms of regular evaluations: self-assessments and performance reviews.
Policies on conflicts of interest: what you need to tell people and how to make sure they do it.
A culture of open communication is encouraging people to be honest and respectful.
Strong Leadership: Pastors and boards show how to be responsible and work together.
Part 4: What to Do If Board Members Don't Follow the Rules
As soon as you can, hire a lawyer to learn about your rights, duties, and options.
Mediation and Conflict Resolution: Getting people to talk about their problems.
The board can take disciplinary action by giving formal warnings, suspending someone, or firing them.
Communication Plans: Keeping track of what individuals say about the business and what they say outside of it.
You need to keep an eye on the money and the labor to protect church property.
Getting ready for a lawsuit if you need to: defensive legal methods.
Part 5: The Roles of Tier 3 and Regan VanSteenis in the Pastor support plan
Governance audits look for faults and risks that shouldn't happen.
Legal counsel and risk assessment: Keeping churches safe from fiduciary breaches.
Executive coaching: helping executives get through hard times.
Crisis management is helping churches deal with problems and find solutions.
Policy development is the process of making clear rules about how to run things.
To Put It Simply
Rogue board members are a big risk, but they shouldn't stop your church from doing its job. Strong leadership, proactive governance, and legal help are all necessary to stop problems before they happen and fix them when they do. Regan VanSteenis is in charge of Tier 3: THE PASTOR SUPPORT PLAN. It gives churches the expert audits, mentorship, and legal counsel they need to keep their governance honest and help ministries deal with tough leadership crises with confidence and grace.
This blog is not legal advice; it is just for information. Churches should hire lawyers to assist them in running their businesses and settling disputes.
Links Inside
- A report on the Church's legal audit and compliance
- A Look at the Pastor Support Plan
- Help with the Law for Running a Church
