Keith Knight

They can't 'participate' in a council meeting but they can sit in on a meeting.

Council meetings are open to congregation members but they should, out of courtesy, let the clerk know about their plans to attend a given meeting. Only elected office-bearers get to talk, discuss and vote on matters, unless the chair gives a visitor permission to speak to a certain point. For an observer to offer an opinion at a council meetings is rude and inappropriate.

And if there are matters of a sensitive nature -- especially dealing with personalities -- council should declare executive (closed) session and all visitors should leave the room.

Similarly, classis and synod meetings are also open to the public.... with the same caviates.

 

Keith Knight

There is an interesting difference between Christian Reformed pastors and, say, Presbyterian pastors. CRC pastors are members of the local congregation and as members they can vote at congregational meetings. Presbyterian pastors are members of the presbytery (ie classis) and they are appointed by presbytery to chair a local congregation's session (council). They chair and they 'run' the local church. Presbyterian pastors are accountable to presbytery (classis), not the local session (council).

Is there any merit in changing our polity, Henry, so that our pastors are members of classis and accountable to classis, rather than being members of the local congregation?

I sense a bit of unintentional arrogance in James VanderSlik's comments. "(The pastor) is in tune with God's will regarding the church and works with the leadership..."

Whose task is it to develop a vision for a local congregation: the pastor or the council/elders? Pastors come and go, and probably take their 'vision' with them as they make the church rounds. The local congregation is presumably there for several generations.

It is indeed somewhat arrogant that only the pastor is 'in tune with God's will for the church'. I would hope that the elders (and some churches have specific visionary elders) are equally in prayer and equally in tune with God's will.

I fondly recall a church that was vacant for four years. During that time the congregation decided that their church building was too small so they sold it, they held a fundraising drive, they collectively build a new church, they established a vision for the church as it related to the community, and then they called a pastor.

Vision, wisdom, strategic planning ... and prayer ... are not the sole pervue of pastors.

And as to Lubbert's comments, yes it is Canadian law that a minister who receives remuneration may not serve as a voting member on a church board/council. The Canadian Council of Christian Charities, which advises Christian non-profits, including churches, is diligent in regularly pointing that out.

I apologize for that, James. Indeed, this is a dialogue. That was a tad harsh.

By way of background, I wear a couple of hats: stated clerk of a Canadian classis and also the executive director of the Canadian Christian Business Federation. I regularly connect with about 3,000 Christian business leaders across Canada. I know their minds and I know their areas of expertise. Among them is a group of 300 Christian multimillionaires and billionaires.

I hear two interesting messages: one is that the church just doesn't know how to use the gifts of those business leaders (other than appoint them to a property committee or to head up a capital campaign). As I regularly 'preach' to those 30 groups of Christian business leaders, "if you're involved in business,you're involved in ministry."

The second message that I regularly hear ... through my contacts with various church leaders ... is that we don't have many really good preachers. I just came across this ad for a senior pastor: "We are looking for someone who has a passion to lead the congregation in ministry, someone with excellent interpersonal skills, who can work collaboratively to further refine God's vision for our church and to bring it to life practically. Top priorities would include preaching and teaching, oversight of the small group ministry, strengthening discipleship opportunities, and providing leadership, support and direction to a small staff."  This is a church council (ie elders) that has abrogated its responsibility as office-bearers. They want a CEO with an MDiv.

The church needs pastors who preach well. Throw in some pastoral care. Period.

Back to the original question, this is one of those binational structure issues. I don't know of any church within Canada where the minister serves as chair of council. He/she might serve as chair of the elders since he has a pastoral role to play there. It's simply the law.

But even though the pastor doesn't chair council, he/she is still usually involved in leadership development and plays a role in casting the vision of the church. A 'non-chair' has a voice and much more weight in carrying discussions.

Most councils of which I have been a part over the years consists of at least some business types who know how to run a meeting and how to lead a group through strategic planning and vision-casting. And this process is always, always bathed in prayer ... whether that prayer is offered by a pastor or someone else.

I agree with you, James, that congregations and councils often look to a new pastor to add a spark to their vision-casting, and to inject enthusiasm and a new perspective in a council room that may have grown stale by decades of navel-gazing.

But a minister does not need to chair a meeting to accomplish that. In fact, by not chairing the meeting, the pastor can often accomplish a lot more.

 

This can be both a helpful process and a discouraging one.

While it will be helpful to create questions around where the church has fallen short of "expectations", it is also important to focuson where church members have failed the church. The church, after all, consists of people so the focus should be on where church members have failed each other.

It is therefore helpful to ask those who have left: "What could you have done differently to make the church more effective in ...."

The assumption generally is that the Church has failed to meet members' expectations. (Granted, there are often extenuating cercumstances) Those who leave should also take some responsibility ...for either their actions or their inactions.

I would be opposed to the notion of an apprenticeship program for young elders and deacons ... where they kinda serve and kinda don't; where they have some authority; where they need to be reminded of the importance of confidentiality because, you know, you just can't trust em.

I am, however, delighted at the prospect of being able to fully install young elders and young deacons because they reflect the gifts for office. All of our newly elected elders and deacons -- especially those who haven't served before -- are paired up with a more experienced mentor. One might call it an apprenticeship program or a mentoring one, but it is being carried out among officebearers who are peers -- regardless of age.

As to the confidentiality question, I know of seasoned veteran elders and deacons who struggle with that. While wisdom tends to come with age, it is not exclusive to age. Some of our best elders and deacons are young, godly men and women who regularly serve as spiritual examples to those who are much older.

In short, 'members in good standing' shouldn't discriminate because of age or gender. To introduce an apprenticeship program for young people or young adults sends a strong message that, while they may have leadership potential, they can't quite be trusted to make the right decisions or to keep their mouths shut.

Here is a Pastor's Job Description that our church uses.

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PASTOR’S GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES  

The Pastor is to serve God and the church by:

1. Providing biblical, spiritual, pastoral and visionary leadership within the framework of the church’s overall vision, mission and purpose.
2. Promoting the spiritual health, growth and well-being of the congregation through preaching, teaching, prayer and administration of the sacraments.

 

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS:  

       1.   Be a committed Christian, speaking freely about a personal relationship with the Lord.

       2.   Be a person of prayer, a student of the Bible, and be committed to personal spiritual growth and

              is convinced of the doctrines of the Reformed faith.

1. Exhibit the qualifications of elder as stated in 1Timothy 3, Titus 1 and the Form for the

Ordination of Ministers. (pg. 995 CRC Hymnal)

1. Be gifted in building relationships and fostering the building of relationships among others.
2. Demonstrate a personal lifestyle which serves as a model for the congregation, balancing

commitments to church, self and family, has a sense of humour.

1. Have a love for the Christian Reformed Church, submitting to accountability, acknowledging the authority of the Body of Christ

     

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

1. Possess excellent communications skills with a love for communicating God’s Word through

             preaching and teaching.

       2.   Have a strong conviction, combined with training, to help the church reach the lost for Christ.

       3.   Possess strong pastoral care skills, trained in the art of listening and spiritual counsel.   

       4.   Possess management skills in cooperative leadership, combined with an ability to multi-task.

       5.   Possess the education and academic training required of Christian Reformed ministers in order to           

             serve in the denomination – engaging in on-going professional education.

 

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

WORSHIP:

1.  Plan and lead worship services in conjunction with the worship committee and worship planners.

2.  Administer the sacraments.

3.  Lead four worship services per month, plus special services such as Christmas, Good Friday,   

     Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, etc.

4 . Assess his workload and to arrange pulpit exchanges with the approval of the council executive.

5.  Attend worship committee meetings.

 

OUTREACH:

1.      Support and encourage church members to join and support local and distant mission trips and

projects.

2.      Encourage all members to make guests and strangers feel welcomed in worship and ministry    

programs.

3.      Stimulate the development of materials and resources to be distributed to newcomers.  

 

WELCOMING AND ENFOLDING OF NEW MEMBERS AND ADHERENTS:

1.  Visit, or arrange for a visit, to new families or individuals who have been attending regularly a few    

      times. Provide a church brochure and other pertinent materials.

2.  Develops with Welcome and Enfolding Coordinator and church administrator, any plans and events to

     encourage the reception of newcomers. 

 

LEADERSHIP:  

The pastor provides leadership in the church’s ministry by:

1. Overseeing the administration of the church office, and working in partnership with council and   

    consistory in overseeing the work of various committees and staff.

2. Supporting and assisting the worship planners and pastoral care teams in their responsibilities.

3. Supporting and encouraging all ministry committees.

4. Providing, or arranging for leadership development and training for church officers and staff.

5. Encouraging members with leadership potential to use their gifts in church ministry.

6. Engaging in visioning: Providing direction and new ideas for all church ministries, encourage new  

    outreach ministries, promote faithful stewardship and financial giving, and participate in council

    retreats.

 

 PASTORAL CARE:

1. Is the first contact for primary responsible pastoral care.

2. Delegates and shares pastoral care work with the district elder, deacon and pastoral care workers.

3. Makes routine hospital visits (especially in emergencies and crisis visits).

4. Makes periodic visits to seniors (75 years and older) and the shut-ins.

5. Makes baptism preparation visits when deemed appropriate.

6. Makes pastoral visits as requested by the elders.

7. Notifies the congregation of pastoral needs through church call/email links and church bulletin.

 

EDUCATION:

1. Provide spiritual/biblical instruction to high school’ers and above, leading to public profession

    of faith

2. Teach a class on “Reformed faith and life” essentials to those from non-Reformed church backgrounds.

 

WORKINGCONDITIONS:

    The position requires considerable flexibility in hours available for work including evenings and     

    weekends. The church will provide an office, and equipment, with secretarial assistance.

 

OTHERRESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Regularly attend Executive, Elder and Council meetings, and at least one Deacon meeting

    per year.

2. Provide leadership for weddings, funerals, when requested, for church members. Requests

    for such services from non-CRC members should be first cleared with Consistory Executive.

3. Secure marriage preparation sessions for engaged couples.

4. Attend continuing education courses, workshops, seminars, retreats etc,

5. Attend Classis meetings as requested by Council.

6. Establish a Pastor Relations Committee as a personal support for self and family.

 

ACCOUNTABILITY:

1. Serves under the supervision of Council for administrative matters and under the supervision of    

    Consistory for spiritual and pastoral care matters.

2. Presents oral and written reports of all visits and meetings to each Consistory meeting.

3. This job description may be reviewed at the request of the Pastor, Consistory or Council.

That has also been the practice within Classis Huron. Only first time delegates (to classis) need to sign the Form of Subscription.

And within local church councils, only first time officebearers -- elders or deacons -- generally sign the Form of Subscription. And once Synod adopts the new Covenant, it seems logical that everybody will need to sign the new document.

It does beg the question: Does one's commitment to the Reformed creeds never change after 30, 40 or 50 years .. if you've been a long time office-bearer? The answer, presumably, is No.

We track attendance of everyone in the worship service.

We have folders on the left side of every row of seats. At the beginning of the service, the first announcement is always to 'pick up the black folder' and to fill in the form ... as a record of attendance and to write down prayer requests that are prayed for by church staff throughout the week.

We just 'tick off the boxes': first time visitor (and they pick up a gift bag at the welcome centre after the service), regular participant, occasional participant, name and address (address is optional), email address if they want to receive the weekly e-newsletter, and plenty of space for a prayer request.

First time visitors receive special attention by hosts at the welcome desk.  The key, though, is to have astute ushers who simply know the congregation: know who the regulars are and know who the recent participants are.

 

Yes, the Article 17 separation is a painful process ... for both pastor and congregation. While it is always easy to level blame -- either at the pastor or at the congregation -- both suffer. It seems to me that it is important for both pastor and congregation to have a lengthy 'sabbatical' after they part ways. Churches often provide a three- or six-month paid leave to their departing pastor. I wish that there were more concrete guidelines -- even spelling that out in Article 17 -- where a minister receives an automatic 12 month paid leave AND where the church council also devotes the next 12 months to self-examination and reflection before it can even consider beginning a search process.

There are instances where pastors are forced to accept a call to another church after an Article 17 separation, even though they have not healed sufficiently from their past hurt, or dealt sufficiently with underlying reasons for the separation. There are many notable instances where churches seem to pick up where they left off, seeming eager to call another pastor ... without spending significant time in prayer as council and as congregation to deal sufficiently with underlying reasons for the separation.

In short, time heals. At least, it helps the process. The Article 17 process needs allow room for both healing and a reality check.

Until the CRC decides to appoint bishops to oversee congregations and pastors -- and that will never happen -- Article 17 is the only means we have to deal with intolerable marriages between pastors and congregations.

There's another aspect to doal membership: their financial contributions.

Our church has several snowbirds who spend three to six months in the south. They have signed up for 'automatic debit' for their weekly/monthly donations so that their financial commitment to their 'home' church continues.

But they also value the importance of their southern church home and they support that church financially ... knowing full well that their donations to a Florida church do not qualify as tax receipts for their Canadian income tax.

For them, their loyalty still lies with their 'home' church so dual membership hasn't been an issue.