Who takes your back when people say crazy things about your ministry?

Who takes your back when someone says something untruthful about you or the ministry you lead? Recently a trusted volunteer came to one of co-pastors and informed him that someone had said some hard things about our student ministry and a decision we made months ago. The comments this volunteer had heard were simply not true and guess what...because I had walked my c0-pastors though the situation months ago one of my pastors was able to speak up for our ministry team and the decision we made! Did you hear that? One of my co-pastor's was able to stand in the gap for our student ministry. That is such a blessing but it did not happen by accident. My co-pastor was able to speak clearly about the situation because our family ministry team kept our senior leadership in the LOOP. We choose not to lead in a vacuum. We choose to inform key leaders about what was going on so we could have accountability, seek advice, and ask for prayer as we walked through a hard choice. Preschool, student, and children's pastors out there, please make sure you keep your senior leadership in the loop when major issues arise. Whether we like it or not, many times people in our church will bring problems or concerns to senior pastors first so why not give them the info to speak clearly about concerns that may come forward. Keeping senior leadership in the loop empowers them to speak up for your leadership moves when concerns are brought up. Your pastor can't clear up confusion if he is just as confused as the person bringing the concern. Keep the staff and key volunteers around you informed...they might just be able to take your back when you least expect it!