When two leaders don’t want to work together, don’t rush to force them to become friends. The first thing is to understand why they can’t work together. There may be a disagreement over responsibilities, personality differences, unresolved offence, competition, mistrust, or something deeper that leadership has not addressed.
Bring them together privately and let each person explain their side without interruption. Sometimes what looks like “these two people don’t like each other” is actually a misunderstanding that has been growing quietly for months. Other times, you discover that one person genuinely has a character or accountability issue that needs to be addressed.
But after the conversation, don’t leave them with the vague instruction, “You both need to work together.” Define what working together actually means. Who is responsible for what? Where does each person’s authority begin and end? What decisions need to be shared? What behaviour will no longer be tolerated?
And if they still refuse to cooperate after you’ve tried to resolve the matter, you may have to make a leadership decision rather than allowing the entire ministry to remain divided. The church’s work should not continually suffer because two leaders cannot put their differences aside.
Sometimes reconciliation is possible. Sometimes the healthier solution is to change responsibilities so the two people don’t have to work closely together. Peace does not always mean putting two people in the same room; sometimes it means creating a structure in which they can serve faithfully without constantly fighting each other.
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