Pastors dismissing accountability bypassing Board

[SecretWarrior]

Is this a new Practice??

The Church Board in the Local Assembly is replaced by a Board of the Pastors Friends who Pastor in other cities???

No more local church board???

Is this a standard practice across the nation?

It seems to be somewhat "racket" all your friends (supposedly your accountable to them) are now on the church board of your local assembly?

[ManOfWord]

I've seen this done but where I've seen it, it doesn't replace the local board. It is supposed to be a stop gap and external accountability for the benefit of the church. If it replaces the local board, I would be extremely leery of it. It may also be illegal if it is contrary to the local by-laws.

[Sherri]

Originally Posted by SecretWarrior

Is this a new Practice??

The Church Board in the Local Assembly is replaced by a Board of the Pastors Friends who Pastor in other cities???

No more local church board???

Is this a standard practice across the nation?

It seems to be somewhat "racket" all your friends (supposedly your accountable to them) are now on the church board of your local assembly?

It's not a new idea, and it has worked in a lot of settings. Eddie is on outside advisory boards for three or four different churches. They meet about once a year, but he will get calls and emails (or conference calls) when there is other business to discuss. I think the churches just figure that other pastors have more wisdom about handling church situations than men in their churches. Most of these boards are not just "friends" of the pastor; they are men who have been successful and seem to have wisdom for handling church matters.

Our church has a Deacon board from within, but we have discussed having an outside advisory board as well. Sometimes those coming in from outside can see flaws and weaknesses that those in the house are immune to.

[A_PoMo]

yeah, i second the above two posts.

it really could be a good thing cuz often times local boards aren't that smart about stuff they need to be smart about in order to make good decisions, especially smaller, less established churches. i've seen church boards where the guys had no clue about scriptural principles that apply to church leadership and purpose as well as have no business or world sense that are needed to navigate the system successfully. in that case it's wise to get the advise of people that know what they're talking about otherwise they'll make very poor decisions that will have a negative impact on the church..

and, i'd check the church constitution and by-laws to see if dismissing the local board is permissible or not; if indeed that's what has been done. if not, then i'd be pretty suspicious.

[aak1972]

IMO I dont believe a pastor has the time to be involved in the day to day operations of a church. And I believe that a local board is the only way to do things properly. However I think its a good idea to have outside opinions on some issues. And a board made up of local pastors would be good for this.