I was at a church business meeting a week ago. The man leading the meeting stood up and read a recommendation from the deacons. Before the reading of the recommendation was completed, a man in the congregation interrupted the recommendation and invoked Robert's Rules of Order. He made a motion to table the recommendation so that there could be no vote, or even discussion, on the matter that the deacons had brought before the church. This essentially brought an abrupt end to the meeting with most of the church unaware and without understanding of what the recommendation even was.
Do you see a problem with this? Is this the way a church is supposed to operate? I know that Robert's Rules of Order has been adopted by many corporations, business, and churches. Does it have any place in the church?
What does the Bible say about finding unity in the body of Christ? How should we handle disagreements and conflict?
I will share my view after some of you have weighed in with your comments.
(It should be noted that the aforementioned church is without a Pastor. Constitutionally, in the absence of a Pastor, the deacons are to fulfill the duties of a Pastor until a Pastor is called by the church.)
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6 comments:
Praying for you my friend. For the life of me I have never understood why Robert's Rules of Order is allowed to trump civility, brotherly love, and decency in the Church Business Meeting setting. 1 Cor. 14:40 Paul says (and the context is the chaos caused by tongues) that all things should be done decently and in order in the church. But let's let the Word of God rule that, not something that is secular.
Jim C.
Mark 8:33 - Those are some extremely strong words.
My initial reaction is to agree with Jim C. Brotherly love and courtesy seem to have escaped the interrupter in this instance. I have heard of other churches where they've adopted rules of engagement, so to speak. It seems to only come up and adhered to when someone is about to get their feelings hurt or their feathers ruffled.
If we are truly about God's business, then fewer feathers seem to get ruffled IMHO. But my experience with these kinds of situations is limited at best.
I agree with you Jim. Why do we need a world system to govern the body of Christ?
I thought that was what the Bible was for.
Jubilee, I need to display my ignorance for a minute. Every once in a while you add things that I don't understand. What is "IMHO"?
You will laugh at this but there have been several times that I have had to think for hours about what your abbreviations meant. Is that texting lingo?
Ha Ha, as I re-read my note (after 24 hours of curiosity) it may have just come to me.
In my humble opinion?
That's it!
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