Nepotism: An Apostolic Paradigm?

[Titus2woman]

Follow the M.O.N.E.Y. Many of those churches are already supporting the adult PKs and if the church goes to someone else they can't keep the money in the family... Although I don't think apostolics are the only offenders by far... I mean look at Lakewood.

[trialedbyfire]

Originally Posted by houston

No, no. Everyone's problems and everything wrong with the world begins with the UPCI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMxH7JLVdhc

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by trialedbyfire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMxH7JLVdhc

[AreYouReady?]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

Follow the M.O.N.E.Y. Many of those churches are already supporting the adult PKs and if the church goes to someone else they can't keep the money in the family... Although I don't think apostolics are the only offenders by far... I mean look at Lakewood.

There is a lot of truth to this.

In a small town near me, some years ago, the pastor dropped dead from a brain aneurysm. It was a shock because he was quite young. There were several seasoned ministers who attended church there and each one was interested in applying for the pastorate position. Each one went through all the motions and the sermons. In the end, his widow, bless her heart, made the statement that she felt like the church should be kept in the family. She actually said it and quite a few there reacted as if she slapped each of them in the face because it was supposed to be Christ's church and they all contributed their finances, sweat, and time into building that church. The pastorate ended up going to her son-in-law, who was a novice in all areas of ministering.

I often wondered what type of board they had that would acquiesce to this.

Oh and one last thing....this was not a UPC church, but another Apostolic Church. I don't think Brother Dante ever mentioned UPC in his opening post.

[KeptByTheWord]

In every single Apostolic/UPC/ALJC church I've attended, nepotism has been the norm. Every.single.one.

My UPC uncle is now the "senior" pastor while his son-in-law is now the pastor.

Church I grew up in - same thing. Pastor will be handing church over to one of his sons. Only problem is, both sons want the pastorate, no one knows how that will go. There are no board members involved in that church. It is completely run by the pastor.

Another family member attends an independent Apostolic church where the pastor died at a young age of cancer. The church was interested in having other pastor come and try out for the church, but on his death bed, the dying pastor said the Lord told him his 19-year-old son, who had only once ever even preached - was to be the new pastor. That church is in a disastrous state today. No board members in this church either. The saints are at the mercy of the pastor's decisions.

So, in my books, in every experience I have had with the Apostolic/UPC/ALJC church... nepotism has reigned.

This is not to say that it isn't present in other denominations, but it is no doubt a serious problem within apostolic church ranks.

Bottom line... I agree with T2W - follow the MONEY!

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

In every single Apostolic/UPC/ALJC church I've attended, nepotism has been the norm. Every.single.one.

My UPC uncle is now the "senior" pastor while his son-in-law is now the pastor.

Church I grew up in - same thing. Pastor will be handing church over to one of his sons. Only problem is, both sons want the pastorate, no one knows how that will go. There are no board members involved in that church. It is completely run by the pastor.

Another family member attends an independent Apostolic church where the pastor died at a young age of cancer. The church was interested in having other pastor come and try out for the church, but on his death bed, the dying pastor said the Lord told him his 19-year-old son, who had only once ever even preached - was to be the new pastor. That church is in a disastrous state today. No board members in this church either. The saints are at the mercy of the pastor's decisions.

So, in my books, in every experience I have had with the Apostolic/UPC/ALJC church... nepotism has reigned.

This is not to say that it isn't present in other denominations, but it is no doubt a serious problem within apostolic church ranks.

Bottom line... I agree with T2W - follow the MONEY!

You do realize that there is only one way to solve that particular issue......

[AreYouReady?]

Heh. Where can we find Spock?

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Dante

Will you say it out loud, because it's not obvious to me.

It's easier. It doesn't have anything to do with the call of God, in my opinion. It's supposed to be about who God wants in the pulpit, but I think it's more often about keeping things in the family, having Dad's wishes kept up with and all that.

Can you imagine a Dad, getting ready to retire and he has a son who has worked with Dad for years who is just primed and ready to take over. And then, Dad has a dream about some random Home Missions pastor from timbucktoo pastoring and really feels like it is God's will. So Dad says he feels like it is God's will to let him run against said son. The HM pastor gets voted in by a narrow margin. Scandal! I wonder how well that would go over.

Like I said, it's easier than doing it any other way. And I think that's the real reason. That said, that doesn't mean the son is NOT ever God's will, but he sure is "God's will" an incredibly often amount of time. When my husband and I were in the UPC as first generationers, it felt quite unfair. We worked hard for everything we got and then were pretty much kicked in the teeth for a reward. Oh well. The past is over.

[bbyrd009]

Hmm; I'm going with "follow the $."

[Truthseeker]

Anoher example of how far we are from biblical eldership