July 8, 200818 yr Vote on yearly budget and deacons and elders and preacher. Would vote on building new building and the like but it would fall under budget vote. Decisions to use funds allocated for outreach for example is made by the person in charge of outreach. Other decisions are made by elders who are voted for lifetime term by congregation.
July 8, 200818 yr Vote on yearly budget and deacons and elders and preacher. Would vote on building new building and the like but it would fall under budget vote. Decisions to use funds allocated for outreach for example is made by the person in charge of outreach. Other decisions are made by elders who are voted for lifetime term by congregation. Same here. Except- as someone who serves in leadership- not all leaders should be appointed for life. In some churches there have been leaders for a very long time really need to step aside because they haven't actually led for very long time. Unfortunately it seems some stick around for selfish reasons. Also I don't know how it goes at your church but budgets from "ministry" groups such as Missions or Youth have to be approved by the board. I am the Chairman of our Missions Team and we not only get approval of budget from the board but we also present it to the congregation. At the end of the day it's their money and we want to use it wisely. We try to be as transparent as possible in everything we do. It seems to have worked. Since we changed the way we did our budgets and changed our focus from a "Bringing People to Jesus" church to a "Bringing Jesus to people" to church we've grown quite a bit. This weekend we are building a house in our parking lot for Habitat for Humanity and the enitre congregation is excited for it. That wouldn't have happened 4-5 years ago.
July 8, 200818 yr I like your list. However I have a problem with the tithing issue. Jesus did not want us to give in a manner that brought attention to our gifts. Furthermore some are able to give substantially more (ala the rich man) and others give less (ala the widow). That is not the church's business IMHO. I don't know why not. Seriously, I can't think of a good reason why it wouldn't be. Is your infidelity my business? Your drug addiction? Your financial crisis? It is, my brother, if we are brothers at a church. Too often we tell one another to get involved in each others lives as fellow Christians, but just not TOO involved. That doesn't fly. If you have a problem tithing, I think I have an obligation to you to address why. The reason we have it at my church is that we are a 501©(3) corporation and by law all financial records of the corporation, including contributions by members and tax documents, including deduction filings, are open to any member of the corporation. Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.
July 8, 200818 yr Author I like your list. However I have a problem with the tithing issue. Jesus did not want us to give in a manner that brought attention to our gifts. Furthermore some are able to give substantially more (ala the rich man) and others give less (ala the widow). That is not the church's business IMHO. Granted you won't know a percentage, but is there any greater objective measure of ones spiritual condition than how they treat their resources?
July 8, 200818 yr Christ said upon this rock I will build my church. The church belongs to him. In matters of doctrine the only vote that should count should be our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We also know that elders were to be established in every church. Elders are given the responsibility to shepherd (spelling?) the flock and they are given a leadership role in the church. They could make (with input from the congregation) decisions on non-doctrinal issues, i.e. what color will the paint be, what kind of song books will we use, etc.
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