03.09. IX. Transacting Church Business

IX TRANSACTING CHURCH BUSINESS

THERE are some people in almost every church who have an idea that the pastor is to have nothing to do with the business of the church; that this belongs entirely to the laymen and especially to the elected officers.

We have been counseled by a very famous professor to “preach”; let others transact the business, etc.; but our observation and experience unite in declaring the utter importance of the business administration of the church and the necessary relation of the pastor thereto. The preacher who has no business ability is, by so much, unfit for the pastorate.

Administration of the church affairs is not second in importance to any phase or feature of the ministry itself. To fail there is to fail everywhere. Such a thing as a long pastorate, on the part of a preacher who is not a sound administrator, is unknown. Of primary importance in this matter are—The Governing Board, The Preparation of Business, and The Proper Transaction of Business. THE GOVERNING BOARD The average church has too many Boards.

If it is Congregational in polity it has a Board of

Trustees and a Board of Deacons, and sometimes an additional Advisory Board or Council Committee. The consequence is unnecessary conflicts and confusion.

All ecclesiastical interests are over-lapping, and when two Boards pass upon the same subject in separate meetings, and are not agreed in their decision, then you have a fine opportunity for a church fight.

After some bitter experience along this line in my earlier pastorates, I decided to have one Board that should pass upon all matters of vital interest to the church, and bring its recommendations to the church itself. This Board is constituted of the deacons, trustees, such officers as Sunday School Superintendents, Clerk, Treasurer, and the heads of departments. In the First Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota, it numbers forty or more, and according to our Constitution “every matter of vital concern to the church” must be passed upon by that Board, and passed on to the church for final decision. That is why it is called “Advisory.” It has no power, but it has unlimited influence, and there is safety in numbers.

Every small country church will have three or four deacons, perhaps three trustees, and, under state laws, so much power is placed in the hands of trustees that if the church is governed by them it often means a one-man rule. I have never yet seen a Board of three Trustees that did not have at least one weakling who would be governed by some man of means or social influence; and thousands of churches have been wrecked by one-man rule. This single Board should be carefully constituted.— While all officers should be members of it, their election to office should be painstaking and careful. As a rule the man who wants office, and is going to have it or make trouble, is unfit for it. The pastor should not be a politician, pulling to get certain of his friends into places of power; but he is commonly influential enough to secure the proper selections with very small endeavor on his part. The average member of the church wants to work with the pastor, and he is likely to ask his advice as election time nears. Don’t speak against the man you think unfit for office; but quietly speak favorably of the man you believe would fill the same efficiently. The selection of officers for a church is a choice upon which the issues of life and death hang. Good officers can make a church, and unfit ones can ruin it. The influence of such a Board is immeasurable.—If the best people in the church are elected to office, and one Board unites in bringing its recommendations to the organized body, it will be a rare occasion when a recommendation is turned down. In this pastorate in the First Baptist Church, of thirty-eight years in length now, I recall but a single instance in which the church failed to adopt a recommendation of the Board, and on that occasion the pastor was absent. A well-constituted Advisory Board is the pastor’s body-guard, and it is also the invincible leadership in successful church work. THE PREPARATION OF BUSINESS The average church suffers from the lack of a careful preparation of the business presented to it for consideration and action. The pastor should think through church problems. —As the servant of the church, that is one of his supreme tasks. Situated as he is, where he can survey the whole field and give careful consideration to both the points of weakness and of strength, he should be the first man to see the former and correct them, and also the latter and increase them. The conduct of the church is his business. He has his entire time to spend upon its interests, and on account of this he ought not to expect the laymen who are burdened with their own affairs and who, oftentimes, cannot spend an hour a week in serious consideration of church problems, to take initiative in originating ideas, or formulating plans. No problem of any importance ought to be presented until somebody has thought it through, and that somebody should be the pastor. The secret of success in the First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, is Truett; the secret of success in Fort Worth is Norris; the secret of success in the First Presbyterian Church, Seattle, is Mark Matthews; the secret of success at the Baptist Temple, Los Angeles, was James Whitcomb Brougher; the secret of success in the Grace Temple, Philadelphia, was Russell Conwell, and of Tremont Temple, Boston, was Dr. George Lorimer. These men thought through their problems, and found for them solution, and their leadership was the basis of unusual victories. The pastor should bring to the Board his recommendations.—I can conceive of no force so disintegrating as an official meeting that has nothing definite before it. In my early pastorates we had stated times for these official meetings, and we permitted anybody to bring up anything that right at the moment popped into his mind. The result was much and even injurious discussion, ending in nothing except divided opinion.

If an officers’ meeting has no occasion, then why should it meet? When it is called together there should be both occasion and prepared recommendations. The pastor should have put in so much time on the recommendations that he has no doubt whatever as to the desirability of their adoption. Ten minutes of reflection is not sufficient to settle questions of importance; but when hours have been spent on the same by the pastor, and he can give clear and convincing reasons why such and such action should be taken, then the further discussion of the Board meeting will result in either one of two things: Reveal to him some mistakes he has made, or result in the adoption of what he has desired. In Congregational bodies the action of the church is final and decisive.—That is why such a Board should be called “Advisory.” The church has a right to determine its own affairs. People who provide the sinews of war have a right to know the direction that war is taking, and the reasons for their participation and, in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred they will give interested audience to the counsel of leaders and ready cooperation to what appears to be wisdom’s ways.

TRANSACTION OF THE BUSINESS

All business should be properly transacted.—There are smooth ways of presenting business, and there are clumsy ways.

All my life long I have suffered over the average method of receiving church members by a popular vote. It is usual in churches, that have persons come forward and make application for membership, to have the pastor, or Moderator of the meeting, say, “What is your pleasure, Brethren, about receiving our friend into the fellowship of this church?” In at least fifty per cent of the cases there is an awkward pause, creating oftentimes with the sensitive new convert a fear that he may not be received, and a question as to whether his place in the Body is cordially accorded.

All of that could be remedied easily by one of two methods: Either have an agreement with some deacon to move that this person be received into the church, and have another ready to second the motion; or, better yet, the custom employed in the First Baptist Church, Minneapolis, of giving the recommendation of the deacons to the church. “The deacons recommend that this person be received as a candidate for baptism, or by letter,” as the case may be. “Are there remarks? If not, those of you who favor the motion signify by the show of hands; contrary, by the same sign,” etc. This obviates the awkward pause and gives the candidate the impression that he is readily and cordially received.

Concerning all business insist on fair presentation and honest action.—Oftentimes in church troubles there are attempts on the part of both factions to pack business meetings. Packed church meetings are at once unfair and non-Christian, and the pastor should do his utmost to see that they do not take place. There are matters of vital concern to the church, and the pastor should insist upon due announcement, and the intervening of adequate time for the entire church to know of the same and respond to its exigency. Frown down, even on the part of your friends, packed business meetings. Victories won by such are only benefits falsely named.

Accept the fair action of the church as final.—There are some pastors who are perfectly willing to do that when the action is what they have desired, but are wholly unwilling if the action goes against their personal interests. Of all people the pastor should play the game fairly, and insist that the properly constituted action of the church is final. To be sure, this is true only in Congregational Church Polity. Where there are super-organizations, such for instance as exist in Presbyterian and Episcopalian forms, the whole gamut of court procedure may justly be run, and the highest court alone can settle the vital subjects.

If, however, that subject be the relation of pastor to people, the judgment of the superior court will have little or no value. Unless the majority of those served are satisfied with the pastor’s leadership a permanent relation is impossible; where they are fully content its dissolution is unlikely!

OUTLINE OF CHAPTER NINE TRANSACTING CHURCH BUSINESS Introductory word—Importance of pastor’s relation to.

I. THE GOVERNING BOARD a.The average church has too many Boards. b.A single Board should be carefully constituted. c.The influence of such a Board is immeasurable.

II. THE PREPARATION OF BUSINESS a.The pastor should think through church problems. b.The pastor should bring to the Board his recommendations. c.In congregational bodies the action of the church is final.

III. TRANSACTION OF THE BUSINESS a.All business should be properly transacted. b.Insist upon fair presentation and honest action. c.Accept the fair action of the church as final.