2. If leaving is the [mal option, then give ample notice of your intentions to leave the ministry, at least three months ahead.

3. Resignation must never be a surprise move. If it comes as a surprise, then it is an evil calculated misdeed.

4. Leave with the blessings of your leader. He needs to pray and bless you. Try to influence other people to go with you. If truly God has called you to leave, He will give you your own people.

6. Do not try to win the hearts of people long before you leave by planning and plotting with them. Do not develop vital and close relationship with influential members.

7. Be grateful to the church from whence you are departing and do not spread bad stories about them after you leave.

8. Do not ruin, destroy and make 'spoil' the waters you drank from, leaving behind a confused and hurtful people. Ezek. 34: 18.

9. Do not go about lying, falsifying truths about your leader and reuniting with those who want the ministry to fall.

10. If you intend to set up a church, you must declare your intentions to your leader. You must discourage others from following you

11. Don't leave with the properties, goods, monies and people of your former church. Return everything in your care and set the records straight.

12. Leave with clean hands and good name. It is better for you to be cheated than for you to cheat them. It is better for them to owe you, than for you to owe them. (I Cor.6:7)

13. Do not set up a church ·anywhere within a ten mile radius of the church you left.

14. It is improper, cheap, carnal and sensual to establish church next door to your former church.

15. Names that are similar to the church or ministry you are leaving should not be given to your new church.

16. After your departure, you must speak well about where you came from. Don't welcome reports and tale-bearing about your former church in your house or heart. Cherish the good they have done to you and forget the little injustices, if there are any.

17. Sow back tithes, offerings and gifts to your former leader.

We can now see that the reason most young ministers disappear into oblivion after departure from a major ministry is because they bring upon themselves curses by the manner in which they leave. Please, imbibe these right principles of leaving a church and c leader and don't bring curse upon yourself.

It is not easy when tensions are high and counsels are coming from left, right and center, but it is the only way to go if your future ministry is not to be jeopardized.

How Leaders Have Handled Those Who Left

In 2008, our ministry had the privilege of settling a 32 years dispute between two churches! The quarrel arose when church B left church A in an ungodly way. Church B was the branch of church A, and overnight, the name was changed and the church hall repainted. They went to court and church B won through bribery and falsifications of documents. The main leader of church A was deeply pained and hurt. Though they are relations and they meet at family events, yet they didn't forgive each other until 32 years later!

We had to meet with them six times before the Lord helped us to resolve it. Now, the main leader of church A had paid a visit to church B and he was gloriously welcomed and the two churches are trying to pick up the pieces of their once vibrant relationship.

Now, this dispute stretched to 32 solid years simply because the leaders don't know how to handle those leaving. Various leaders have handled the leaving of loyal, dedicated or troublesome associates in multifarious ways. These are the most common ways:

+ Being bitter and unwilling to let go. + Cursing, abusive and oppressive.

+ Being downcast, forlorn and devastated.

+ Being rigid, unyielding and unbending to release them.

+ Denouncing them as false prophets and antichrist.

+ Wishing them failure and publicly cursing them.

+ Telling lies about them and rubbishing their name.

+ Refusal to acknowledge their contribution and appreciate them. + Descending low to become their sworn enemies.

+ Refusing their sincere overtures and repentance.

+ Failure to benefit from their ministry and sonship blessings. These wrong handling of those leaving have left many leaders and their churches prostrate. I have heard of leaders who are not on speaking terms with those who left them. Others never pray or bless those who have genuine reason to leave to expand the kingdom of God .

Narrow, shallow and myopic mindedness have made many leaders to curse rather than bless those associates that have cause to leave them. That is an apology. Every person leaving you and your ministry is a blessing in disguise. If you are broadminded and mature about it, you will reap the blessings therein now and later.

How Leaders Must Handle Those Leaving

Leadership is almost a thankless job. People you have served and laboured over will suddenly wake up to say hey are moving away. It's like ) our biological daughter at home whom you have grown to love and she has been around you. But one day she must move away by getting married, no matter the level of love you have for her. Just as you must grow up to release your daughter for marriage, so also you must grow up to rightly release those associates that are leaving) our ministry.

David Yonngi Cho of Korea told of how he usually release his associate pastors with blessing. He will even go to the extent of giving them money and members to go with them to start heir new churches. I also read of another pastor who released his as so jate pastor with lots of fanfare, money and gifts. He gave him some members to help him start his new church and those members should only return when they feel the new church had been fully established. The younger pastor was amazed and till today, those two churches are still good friends and they do joint meetings a lot.

These are the examples we should set as followers of Christ. The world should see love, maturity and unity in diversity among us. If you have left a church or leader, then know assuredly that people will leave you. So, get ready to handle those who will leave you by imbibing these guidelines:

1. Know assuredly that both loyal and disloyal people will leave you and your ministry for one reason or the other. Some people only come for training, they are going somewhere for ministry.

2. Build the work on Jesus, His word and not on yourself.

3. Train, teach and develop many, investing in men.

4. Give opportunities to all to display the gift and ministry of God in them by proper administration.

5. Be a good, kind, firm and growing leader.

6. Have no secret in your cupboard. Live an open - transparent life with everyone.

7. Encourage people to be honest and frank with you in all things. You should be open and strait forward too.

8. Give personal audience to those who want to leave. Invite them for discussion and prayer.

9. Bless them, release them and send them forth with gifts. Don't ever curse anyone. If possible, let them go with gifts, financial appreciation and lots of love from the church and individuals.

10. Be interested in their progress and act maturely always. Don't give room to the flesh or negative suggestions.

One of the reasons why God has blessed our ministry is because we don't owe our staff. Those who have left were given generous severance package and we prefer they owe us than we owing them. Of course, we had to sack some people, yet we release them with blessing, knowing fully well that we shall still meet somewhere.

Please I beg you, don't withhold the benefits of those who have worked with you. When they are leaving, give it to them and don't let them go empty handed. It is a shame for someone to have worked for a Christian ministry over the years and when he is leaving, we send him away empty handed. That is truly unChristlike!

Conclusively, if you have to move away from the ministry of your leader, then do it in a right way and with lots of prayer, patience and maturity. Also, leaders must release those who are leaving with love, maturity and large hearted. Don't let those who have worked with you and serve under you go away without a token of blessing from you.

So many churches and leaders are under God's wrath because they withheld the blessings of those who had worked under them. These are crucial issues that every leader and associates must take seriously and start doing something about from now on. You can recall all those who have left you and bless them spiritually and materially. It's never too late. You can also restitute your wrong way of leaving. God bless you.