Enhancing Trust Through Leader Care.

Recent ECFA surveys show 94 percent of our members reporting leader integrity failures as having a negative impact on community and giver trust. Indeed, we know that the fall of a leader is one of the most significant financial and reputational risks for a church or ministry. Burnout, dropout, and tragic breaches of trust cause many harms that are difficult to quantify, but among tangible consequences are often major unbudgeted expenses, reduced giving, program cuts, and sometimes even the complete termination of a ministry's operations.

Church and ministry leaders experience unique challenges in their roles in carrying out their organizations’ Kingdom mission. Those pressures can lead to exhaustion or a feeling of isolation. In a weakened or injured state, a leader may be more susceptible to abusing authority, creating unreasonable expectations of self or others, sidestepping appropriate accountability, or engaging in other unbiblical conduct.

God-honoring boards can come alongside and lift the arms (Ex. 17:8-16) of their senior leader to be a catalyst for the daily and long-term flourishing of the entire organization.

Trust takes years to build, but it can be lost overnight. As a society, our confidence in institutional leaders, including faith leaders, is declining. Recent Gallup data shows that only one out of every three Americans signal high trust for religious leaders. In that context, the actions of a senior leader play a significant role in whether or not a particular organization will be trusted by its constituents and community. With the combination of leaders sharing record levels of burnout and the public’s continued decline of trust in religious leaders, something has to change.

ECFA believes that healthy leaders lead to healthy organizations. Trust can be protected or restored when a board comes alongside a leader and establishes proactive plans and practices to support the leader’s well-being and integrity. Entire organizations and the communities they serve can benefit when leaders step up and take holistic care seriously.

Absolutely! However, the tone starts at the top of the organization. Even as ECFA requires specific care for the senior leader, we hope that the principles of holistic care will spread throughout the entire organization. We have heard from organizations that have adopted this type of care for the entire staff; the impact on both staff and the ministry was significant!

ECFA will be walking closely with members as they adopt this standard. We are committed to providing resources, sample plans, and other educational opportunities to help organizations comply with the standard and educate leaders and boards around the country on why leader care is essential.

ECFA expects full compliance during the 2027 accreditation renewal cycle.

Stay tuned to ECFA emails and announcements about new resources, webinars, and other educational opportunities to help members successfully adopt the new standard.

The standard requires the board (or a board-approved committee) and the senior leader to partner together to create a plan and that the board review, approve, and document the plan’s approval in the organization’s board or committee minutes.

ECFA’s approach is purposefully not prescriptive regarding the elements of such an annual care plan. The plan may be a formal document, a board resolution, or directives incorporated into the organization’s policies.