Leadership, Laity and Roles in Church Decision Making

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Ministers

1. Ministers are called by God.
2. Ministers are charged when they are ordained.
3. Ministers are human. They need God’s grace, just like everyone else.
4. Ministers are brothers. Although they have a different role in the church, they are not to be regarded as “lords” with a different status. – Colossians 1, Hebrews. Let all of us, as a body together consider each other in order to stir up love and good works.
5. Ministers are leaders of the church. 1 Timothy 5:17, Romans 12:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:12, Hebrews 13.
6. Ministers are shepherds, God called them to be shepherds. They are to lead as servant leaders, not as lords, but as servants. Matthew 20:25-28, Acts 20, John 10.
7. Ministers are accountable. They are accountable to the brotherhood. They are accountable to God. Being a leader is a serious calling and it comes with accountability. James 3, Hebrews, 1 Peter 5:4.

Church Decision Making

The children of Israel were lead by a cloud and a pillar of fire. God doesn’t lead us in this manner today, but he does work through leaders, through brothers, through sisters.

Churches don’t approach church decision making in the same way.

There are two dangerous ditches that churches can fall into when it comes to decision making.

1. Doing church as a democracy, where leaders are only moderators.
2. The flip side of this is also a danger, when the leader leads by control. Abusing his authority.

So, how should church decision making work?

Acts 15 – the leaders and the elders of the early church discussed the thing that they were struggling with. They, along with the Holy Spirit came to a point of understanding on the issue at hand.

What is the goal in our decision making? It should be “what does God want? How would God have us choose?”

By what process should a decision be reached? This will vary from church to church.

For churches to reach good decisions, there needs to be Spirit directed people. There should be input given, input received, respectful and charitable on both sides. There also needs to be Spirit empowered submission once a decision is reached.

The best decisions are made when a group of committed believers love God and love each other and fill their roles.