Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

I have ever heard some pastors say they would not pastor a church that did not have a church board,then others say they would not want a church board,for fear of having a board run church.

What are the pluses and minuses of having a church board in a local assembly ?

Re: Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

Bro. scott They should be accountabilty by everone because anyone can fall, However the pastor needs his authority to pastor the church. My thought"s on the subject are I cannot see myself pastoring a church that I cannot be the pastor, But saying that I believe in proper church goverment if it"s in proper alianment with the WORD of GOD.

Re: Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

What pray tell me is proper church government? And where does one get scripture for the way churches are governed today. With one man as dictator over Gods people.?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Re: Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

It seems that in the early church, there were elders (plural) and bishops (plural) in each local assembly.

The one man ruler in a local assembly is a later development.

Re: Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

Baldassare Castiglione writes this in the Book of the Courtier... "Yet it seems to me that since liberty has been given us by God as a supreme gift, it is not reasonable that we should be deprived of it, nor that one man should have a larger share of it than another: which happens under the dominion of princes who for the most part hold their subjects in closest bondage. But in rightly ordered republics this liberty is fully preserved: besides which, both in judgments and in councils, it more often happens that one man's opinion singly is wrong, than that of many; because disturbance from anger or scorn or lust more easily enters the mind of one man that that of the many, who are almost like a great body of water, which is less liable to corruption than a small one."

However he does not conclude here, he later writes..."Now as to what you said about liberty, I reply that we ought not to say that true liberty is to live as we like, but to live according to good laws."

A little further on he writes, "And since you said that it is an easier thing for the mind of one man to be corrupted than for that of many, I say that it is also an easier thing to find one good and wise man than many."

To me these same arguments are all applicable to the discussion of the pros and cons of a church board. On one hand we have resistance to the corruption of one man, on the other hand we can more easily find greater virtue in one man than in many. Which to choose...? That is a hard question. I think this, that with a good and righteous pastor, things will be far better without a church board. Of course not all pastors are righteous, but neither do they have power outside their church to force us to stay under them. Therefore we already have a remedy for unrighteous pastors, that is we can leave their church and testify of their deeds. Though we should never speak down of them lightly lest it is us that are in error and angered not at any unrighteousness on their part but instead are angered that we cannot live as we like. And one final note, if it can ever be shown that there are many many pastors on a large scale that have become corrupt in their leadership, then we should revisit this issue and say assuredly that we need church boards to help hold all pastors accountable so that they do not become corrupt.

Re: Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

Without proper leadership in the church their would be a literal mess. If you read the new testement it"s there. But to gods drummer in the greater scheme of things this is not a topic I wish to spend a lot of time with. I need to be clear I believe in the 5 fold ministry and I believe in the office of the decon.Any thing else Would be man made and I would not support that.

Re: Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

Agreed Sam.
And in many cases, along with that "later development", came many other "later developments".



The board I am familiar with, and used to be a part of, gathered together about 2-3 times a yr., to discuss business(primarily financial things) of the "house of God", and discuss management of the properties owned & to possibly be purchased by "the church". It was basically all business. Most of the board members didnt have much to say. There really was little, if any at all, discussion concerning the overseeing of the assembly. I suppose the board members were not allowed to know the salaries of those working for the church, because one time I asked to know the salary of a very close relative of the pastor that was working "for the church", and was refused that info., on the account of it being personal info. The amount of money taken in as tithes was known only of the pastor and his wife, because it was considered their money.

Re: Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

I have spent most of my Christian life in churches with no church board and the tendency is toward that of a dictatorship.

Of course boards are only needed because we have stepped away from the model of church that the apostles set forth and used which worked on the principle of an group of elders who worked, prayed, fellowshipped and broke bread together.

We have settled for hundreds and thousands sitting under one man which, by default of the system, relinquish their God given desire, ability and mandate to work out their own salvation with fear & trembling which increasingly weakens the backbone of the body.

Re: Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

Pros:
assistance to the pastor (ie Moses placing decision of small matters into the hands of elders and leaders of smaller groups of people)
Accountability
Better organization (one might have administrative abilities, another good business sense...)
Perspective (there is more than one way of looking at a situtation and dealing with a matter)

Cons:
The board could try to take over all authority, leaving things little better than a dictatorship
The pastor could run the board making a seemingly better situation but really still a dictatorship (been there, done that, doesn't work)
Division could arise more easily
People could try to play board members against each other
When the board and the pastor disagreed, if power was equal there would be no way of reaching a conclusion except (gasp, dreaded word) compromising.

Re: Church Boards,Pluses and Minuses.
 

"For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety."

I think church boards should be primarily for business matters. Pastors cannot be expected to be knowledgeable in every area of business; they should be able to focus on spiritual things, for the most part.